Sponsors (17)
Official title: To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to provide for greater spousal protection under defined contribution plans, and for other purposes.
Introduced March 11, 2025 by Lauren Underwood · Last progress March 11, 2025
The bill strengthens spouse and survivor protections and directs meaningful federal funding and education to improve women's retirement security, but does so at the cost of increased federal spending and new compliance, administrative, and litigation burdens that could raise fees, complicate access to some distributions, and favor larger nonprofit providers.
Spouses and beneficiaries of retirement-account owners (especially surviving spouses) gain stronger, legally backed protections against unilateral distributions and rollovers that would strip their rights, preserving survivor benefits.
Women — including working-age women, low-income women, and survivors of domestic violence — receive targeted education, outreach, and legal-assistance funding intended to improve retirement security and access to benefits (including help securing qualified domestic relations orders).
Community organizations and nonprofits receive predictable federal grant funding (authorized at $100 million per year and minimum awards of $250,000) to expand retirement-planning, legal-assistance, and outreach capacity.
Taxpayers and the federal budget face a sustained cost (authorization of $100 million per year) that could increase spending pressures or require offsets, raising fiscal concerns.
Employers, plan administrators, and financial firms will incur new compliance, administrative, and implementation costs (notices, consent/witnessing, system changes, link updates), which could translate into higher fees, lower plan returns, or indirect costs for workers and retirees.
Some participants may lose practical access to needed funds for one-time or small hardships because most distributions will require spousal consent or will be subject to new restrictions, delaying or blocking access.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Requires spousal consent and new protections for many defined contribution plan distributions and rollovers, adds enforcement rights, requires CFPB links, and funds DOL grants to help women with retirement planning and QDROs.
Requires spousal consent and stronger spouse-protection rules for many defined contribution retirement accounts, aligns Internal Revenue Code rules with comparable protections in the Federal Thrift Savings Plan and traditional pensions, and creates new enforcement rights. It also directs financial-product providers to link to CFPB retirement resources and authorizes two grant programs through the Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau to boost financial literacy and help low-income women and domestic-violence survivors secure qualified domestic relations orders. Appropriations of $100 million per year are authorized for each grant program beginning in fiscal year 2026.