| LEGISLATIVE AGENDA |
| Time
to rally support in Senate for bill House passes rollover provision By SHERRY HALBROOK Years of dedicated efforts by PEF members to get changes in federal tax law to eliminate inequities that apply to their deferred compensation plan have reached a critical point. An amendment to the federal tax law that would allow them to rollover their deferred-compensation savings into an individual-retirement account (IRA) has passed in the House of Representatives and is under review by the Senate. “This portability legislation would give our members the important ability to save on their taxes by rolling over their investments in the state’s deferred-compensation plan when they leave state service,” says PEF President Roger Benson. “Many members save for their retirement by participating in the state’s deferred-comp plan established under Section 457 of the Internal Revenue Code,” Benson says. “But that section of the code treats our members less favorably than similar private-sector workers who enroll in 401K plans. We want the same option for our savings.” As things stand now, when you retire you must choose a payout option, for your savings in a Section 457 plan. Once that choice is made, you can’t change it, except for one brief opportunity to defer the payout. “Contact Sens. Pat Moynihan and Chuck Schumer, as I have, and urge them to support the portability provisions of HR 1102RS,” says Benson, who wrote to both lawmakers in October about this issue. However, PEF Legislative Director Brian Curran says he is concerned that some provisions of HR 1102RS, including the rollover-provision, may have been attached to a broad tax bill that passed both houses with provisions that President Bill Clinton has threatened to veto. Several members of the PEF Region 8 Political Action Committee, and the PEF Retirement Planning Committee have worked hard to build bipartisan support in Congress for Section 457 reforms. “We got tremendous support from Queensbury Republican Jerry Solomon, when he was chair of the House Rules Committee, which produced several amendments that gave our investments greater protection,” says Region 8 activist Steve Sherokey. Since Solomon’s retirement, Albany Democratic Congressman Mike McNulty and Solomon’s successor, Republican John Sweeney, have helped push the current portability legislation through the House of Representatives. |