Excerpt: “Tax Overhaul: On the Republican side, Rep. Paul D. Ryan (Wis.) may succeed Rep. Dave Camp (Mich.), who announced his retirement in March 2014 as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and continue a pursuit of a tax overhaul, said Judy A. Miller, director of retirement policy at American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries.

But Ryan has remained quiet on any possible plans.

“He’s clearly not trying to lay anything out right now,” she said. “Camp is still chair.”

Ryan is in a key position to continue work with Camp’s Tax Reform Act of 2014, which may serve as a framework for future proposed legislation for a tax overhaul and retirement security, Miller said.

Camp unveiled his tax overhaul proposal Feb. 26 (39 PBD, 2/27/14; 41 BPR 463, 3/4/14).

“No plan is perfect, but the critics must offer an alternative or tell Americans why they continue to defend a nightmarish tax code that works only for the well-connected,” Ryan said in a Feb. 26 statement. “Chairman Camp’s plan is a terrific first step toward a much-needed debate over how to best reform the tax code.”

Camp’s plan is a good starting point for discussions, Miller said, and it has made it easier for any legislation to move through the Ways and Means Committee. But Miller said she only expects certain provisions to resurface.

“Camp’s plan is on its last leg,” she said. “If Ryan takes over Ways and Means, he’ll want to have his own proposal on the basis of moving forward.”

That is if Ryan takes over, she said. It is difficult to determine who will succeed as committee leaders at this point without knowing which political party will control the House and Senate after the midterm elections, Miller said.

When the new generation of legislators and committee leaders emerge, they must get to the heart of why people aren’t saving more, Morrissey said, because current savings vehicles are inadequate.

Current defined contribution plans that transfer risks to participants and charge them exorbitant fees jeopardize retirement security, and to protect individuals, legislators must focus more on encouraging Americans, she said.

“It’s a poorly functioning system, and to ask people to save more in a poorly functioning system is not a solution,” Morrissey said.”

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Legislators Push for Retirement Overhaul As They Prepare for Their Own Departures