Coalition Letter to Senate Leadership in support of the SECURE Act of 2019

The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Majority Leader
United States Senate
S-230, The Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Chuck Schumer
Minority Leader
United States Senate
S-221, The Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Majority Leader McConnell and Minority Leader Schumer,

We, the undersigned presidents, chief executive officers and chairs urge you to take quick action and pass H.R. 1994, the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act of 2019. This important piece of legislation helps to ensure millions of Americans’ financial security.

While we wait for passage of the SECURE Act, low and middle-income Americans struggle to save for retirement and military survivors face significant tax repercussions. If the SECURE Act is not signed into law, more than 700,000 small business workers will not save for retirement at work, more than four million workers in private-sector pension plans will be at risk of losing future benefits, 1,400 religiously affiliated organizations will be at risk of losing access to their defined contribution retirement plans, and more than 18,000 children and spouses of fallen service members will continue to be economically disadvantaged by unfair taxation on their survivor benefits.

The SECURE Act passed the House of Representatives with overwhelming bipartisan support and builds upon the Senate’s Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act (RESA) introduced by Senate Finance Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR). During the 114th Congress, RESA passed out of the Senate Finance Committee unanimously. Both RESA and SECURE contain numerous stand-alone provisions supported by Republicans and Democrats.

This bicameral, bipartisan effort enhances the retirement system by expanding access to retirement plans for millions of workers. SECURE would also allow older workers and retirees to contribute more to their retirement accounts, increase 401(k) plan coverage to part-time employees and help new parents better manage expenses when they give birth or adopt a child. As described above, the SECURE Act corrects recent changes to the 2017 tax law that inadvertently increased the taxes Gold Star Families pay on their survivor benefits and enables communities to provide nominal benefits to volunteer emergency responders without incurring a federal income tax payment.

We respectfully ask that you make the SECURE Act a top legislative priority and encourage quick action to pass this important bill this year.

Sincerely,

Susan K. Neely
President and Chief Executive Officer
American Council of Life Insurers

Marc Cadin
President and Chief Executive Officer
AALU

Kevin Hogan
Chief Executive Officer
AIG Life & Retirement

Walter White
President and Chief Executive Officer
Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America

Mary Jane B. Fortin
President
Allstate Financial Businesses

Thomas A. Swank, CFA
President and Chief Executive Officer
American Enterprise Group Inc.

Joseph J. Annotti
President and Chief Executive Officer
American Fraternal Alliance

Steven S. Lobell
President and Chief Executive Officer
The American Home Life Insurance Company

Brian Graff
Chief Executive Officer
American Retirement Association

JoAnn M. Martin, CPA, FLMI
Chief Executive Officer
Ameritas

Jess Roman
Chief Executive Officer
Arizona Small Business Alliance

Glenn Hamer
President and Chief Executive Officer
The Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Trenton F. Hahn
Executive Director
Association of Indiana Life Insurance Companies

Thomas E. Henning
President and Chief Executive Officer
Assurity Life Insurance Co.

William J. Wheeler
President
Athene Holding Ltd.

Mark Pearson
President and Chief Executive Officer
AXA Equitable Holdings, Inc.

Michele Stockwell
Executive Director
Bipartisan Policy Center Action

Paul A. Quaranto, Jr.
Chairman, CEO and President
Boston Mutual Life Insurance Company

Eric Steigerwalt
President and Chief Executive Officer
Brighthouse Financial

Jeff Poulin
Chief Executive Officer
Canada Life Reinsurance

Adam Antoniades
Chief Executive Officer
Cetera Financial Group

James F. Sanft
Chair
Church Alliance

Gary Bhojwani
Chief Executive Officer
CNO Financial Group

Michael Fosbury
President and CEO
Columbian Financial Group

Robert A. Fishbein
Chair
Committee of Annuity Insurers

Annette Guarisco Fildes
President and Chief Executive Officer
The ERISA Industry Committee

James P. Brannen
Chief Executive Officer
FBL Financial Group

Paula Dierenfeld
Executive Director
Federation of Iowa Insurers

James E Hohmann
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Fidelity Life

Richard F. Jones
President
Fidelity Security Life Insurance Company

Dale E. Brown, CAE
President & CEO
Financial Services Institute, Inc.

Thomas J. McInerney
President and Chief Executive Officer
Genworth Financial, Inc.

Kevin A. Marti, FSA, CLU, ChFC
President and Chief Executive Officer
Gleaner Life Insurance Society

Allan Levine
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Global Atlantic Financial Company

Peter J. Hennessey III
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
Government Personnel Mutual Life Insurance Company

Peter R. Schaefer
President and Chief Executive Officer
Hannover Life Reassurance Company of America

Eric J. George
President
Insurance Association of Connecticut

Wayne Chopus
President and Chief Executive Officer
Insured Retirement Institute

Fire Chief Gary Ludwig, EMT-P
President and Chairman of the Board
International Association of Fire Chiefs

Karen L. Barr
President and Chief Executive Officer
Investment Adviser Association

Michael Falcon
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Jackson National Life Insurance

Marianne Harrison
President and Chief Executive Officer
John Hancock

Thomas A. Munson
President and Chief Executive Officer
Landmark Life Insurance Company

Traci Riehl
Executive Director
Life insurance Association of Michigan

Mary A. Griffin
President and Chief Executive Officer
Life Insurance Council of New York, Inc.

Dennis R. Glass
President and Chief Executive Officer
Lincoln Financial Group

Ron Lockton
President and Chief Executive Officer
Lockton Companies

Dan H. Arnold
President and Chief Executive Officer
LPL Financial

Audra Winters
President and Chief Executive Officer
The Marana Chamber of Commerce

Roger W. Crandall
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company

Martine A. Ferland
President and Chief Executive Officer
Mercer

Michel Khalaf
President and Chief Executive Officer
MetLife

Charles J. DiVencenzo, Jr.
President and Chief Executive Officer
National Association for Fixed Annuities

Matthew Petersen
Executive Director
National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators

Kevin M. Mayeux
Chief Executive Officer
National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors

Betsy Huber
President
The National Grange

Mehran Assadi
Chairman, Chief Executive Office, and President
National Life Group

Heather Schafer, CAE
Chief Executive Officer
National Volunteer Fire Council

John Carter
President and Chief Operating Officer
Nationwide Financial

Ted Mathas
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
New York Life Insurance Company

Olivia Ainza-Kramer
President and Chief Executive Officer
The Nogales-Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce

Shirley Bloomfield
Chief Executive Officer
NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association

J. Scott Davison
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
OneAmerica

Mark A. Haydukovich
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
Oxford Life Insurance Company

James T. Morris
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
Pacific Life

José S. Suquet
Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer
Pan-American Life Insurance Group

Eileen McDonnell
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company

Daniel J. Houston
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
Principal Financial Group

Richard J. Bielen
President and Chief Executive Officer
Protective Life Insurance Company

Charles F. Lowrey
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Prudential Financial

Thomas A. Kennedy
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Raytheon Company

Cynthia A. Tidwell
Chief Executive Officer and President
Royal Neighbors of America

Esfandyar Dinshaw
President and Executive Committee Member
Sammons Enterprises Inc.
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Sammons Financial Group

Christopher M. Hilger
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
Securian Financial Group

Michael P. Kiley
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Security Benefit Life Insurance Company

Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr.
President and Chief Executive Officer
SIFMA

Tim Rouse
Executive Director
SPARK Institute, Inc.

Cyrus Taraporevala
President and Chief Executive Officer
State Street Global Advisors

Margaret Meister
President and Chief Executive Officer
Symetra Life Insurance Company and Affiliates

Terry Rasmussen
President and Chief Executive Officer
Thrivent

Roger W. Ferguson, Jr.
President and Chief Executive Officer
TIAA

Mark W. Mullin
President and Chief Executive Officer
Transamerica Corporation

Kevin Slawin
President and Chief Executive Officer
Trustmark

Amber Smith
President and Chief Executive Officer
The Tucson Metro Chamber of Commerce

Dennis L. Johnson
President and Chief Executive Officer
United Heritage Life Insurance Company

James P. Rousey
Chief Executive Officer and President
Universal Guaranty Life Insurance Company

Brandon Carter
Chairman and President
USAA Life Insurance Company

Suzanne Clark
President
U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Connie O’Connell
Executive Director
Wisconsin Council of Life Insurers

Cindy Hounsell
President
Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement

John Courtis
Executive Director
Yuma County Chamber of Commerce

cc: Chairman Chuck Grassley, Senate Committee on FinanceRanking Member Ron Wyden, Senate Committee on Finance