Brad Campbell Speaks to ThinkAdvisor About the SECURE Act 2.0 Given Proposed U.S. Budget

In the article “Biden Budget Battle Complicates Secure Act 2.0 Timing,” ThinkAdvisor shared insights from benefits and executive compensation partner Brad Campbell on the future of the Securing a Strong Retirement Act, or SECURE Act 2.0, which will likely be voted on by the House this summer. He noted that President Joe Biden’s proposed budget could affect when the bill comes up for a Senate vote and which provisions ultimately survive.

Campbell explained on Faegre Drinker’s “Inside the Beltway” webinar that it’s less clear when the SECURE Act 2.0 — which passed the House Ways and Means Committee on May 5 — will receive a Senate vote as several retirement-related bills have also recently been floated.

Further, “It is not clear whether lawmakers intend to develop and move a bill independently or to react to the SECURE Act 2.0 when it comes over from the House,” Campbell told ThinkAdvisor.

What remains in flux, Campbell said, is whether SECURE Act 2.0 and/or related Senate legislation “would be treated as a standalone bill or incorporated into another bill or bills moving through the Congress.”

A bill going through the budget reconciliation process, for instance, “would be an imperfect vehicle, as not all of the SECURE Act 2.0 provisions likely would be eligible for inclusion, but it is possible that some of its provisions that directly affect revenue and spending could be attached,” Campbell noted.

The “much bigger set of tax issues under consideration from the Biden administration and in particular being negotiated in the Senate, and how some of that fares could have an impact on the SECURE Act 2.0 as well because as we look at getting into pay-fors and other tax provisions, that could affect some of the provisions in the SECURE Act 2.0 as well,” Campbell said.

There is “wide, bipartisan support for these [retirement-related] bills, and a variety of possible paths, but the mechanics of passing them are still somewhat murky,” Campbell added. “I remain fairly confident, however, that some version of the SECURE Act 2.0 legislation has a good chance of passing this year.”