Sponsors (11)
The bill broadly expands retirement coverage and incentives—improving access to federal‑style retirement for many workers and offering targeted credits—while imposing new administrative requirements, penalties, and long‑term federal costs that fall most heavily on small businesses, independent workers, and taxpayers.
Millions of employees and self-employed Americans (middle-class families, gig and independent workers) will gain mandatory access to retirement coverage—either through employer plans or enrollment in FERS—improving retirement savings access and participation.
Small employers and lower‑income self‑employed individuals receive targeted tax credits and phased relief (including a refundable credit for some self‑employed people), lowering the net cost of offering or making contributions to retirement plans.
Covered non‑Federal employers and plans are standardized (using ERISA definitions and requiring withholding at the same percentage as Federal employees), creating more consistent, familiar rules for plan administration.
Small employers and self‑employed people face substantial new administrative, payroll withholding, reporting, and compliance costs to offer covered plans or manage FERS enrollment and deemed withholdings, which could reduce hiring, take‑home income, or profit margins.
New recurring daily penalties and joint-and-several liability can expose employers (especially small firms and related entities) to large, potentially ruinous financial liabilities for noncompliance by any aggregated employer.
Expanding FERS and providing credits will increase long‑term federal retirement obligations and reduce near‑term revenue (via credits), creating fiscal pressure on taxpayers or crowding out other spending unless offsets are identified.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Requires employers and self‑employed persons to offer or join FERS or a comparable retirement program, extends FERS coverage, creates a new tax credit, and adds penalties for noncompliance.
Introduced February 12, 2026 by Delia Ramirez · Last progress February 12, 2026
Requires every employer and self‑employed person to either offer a comparable retirement plan or enroll workers in the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). The law extends many FERS rules to covered non‑Federal employees and certain self‑employed individuals, creates a tax credit to help small employers and the self‑employed pay contributions, and imposes an excise tax for failures to provide or participate in a covered retirement program. Employers may not cut existing employees’ pay because of required enrollment.