2024 State-Facilitated Retirement Savings Program Network (SRSPN)
Annual Conference

• 2024 Visionary Award
• 2024 Distinguished State Leader Award
• 2024 Best of the State Spotlight Awards

Richard E. Neal
U.S. Congress
Massachusetts

The Georgetown University Center for Retirement Initiatives (CRI) at the McCourt School of Public Policy is pleased to present the 2024 Visionary Award to Congressman Richard E. Neal. We honor him for his excellence in public service and leadership and commitment to strengthening retirement security reflected in important reforms, such as SECURE 2.0.

Richard E. Neal was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, and was raised and educated in the City of Springfield. He is a graduate of American International College, where he received his bachelor’s degree in political science, and he received his Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the Barney School of Business and Public Administration at the University of Hartford.

Congressman Neal was first elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1988 and served his first two terms on the House Banking Committee before joining the Ways and Means Committee in 1993. In January 2019, Congressman Neal was elected by his colleagues to assume the esteemed position of Chairman, marking the first time since 1875 that a representative from Massachusetts had done so.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Congressman Neal and the Ways and Means Committee worked tirelessly to bring relief to the American people.

The first relief bill, the CARES Act, included several provisions Ways and Means Committee Democrats secured including federal unemployment compensation, economic assistance payments, and telehealth flexibility. This bill singlehandedly saved the American economy.

In the American Rescue Plan Act, the Ways and Means Committee was responsible for nearly $1 billion of the $1.9 trillion package. Under Chairman Neal’s leadership, the bill put more money directly into people’s pockets, helping them better afford childcare and health coverage. It also shored up the hard-earned retirement security for millions of Americans nationwide.

In addition to the COVID-19 relief packages, Chairman Neal spearheaded a number of historic legislative achievements during the 116th and 117th Congress, including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, marking the largest long-term investment in our infrastructure and economy in our nation’s history, and the Chips and Science Act, which will reinvigorate our nation’s domestic manufacturing of chips and incentivize research and development.

Chairman Neal also helped address retirement security with his bipartisan bill “SECURE 2.0,” which will increase participation in work-based retirement savings by expanding automatic enrollment in 401(k) plans and enhancing the start-up credit for small businesses to sponsor a retirement plan.

In addition, Chairman Neal led efforts to pass the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), much of which was written in the Ways and Means Committee. The IRA is a historic win for American families and the planet, with provisions that will lower costs while investing in Americans’ health and our future climate security. This includes lowering health care costs for millions of low and middle-income Americans by extending the Affordable Care Act’s premium tax credit enhancements through 2025; allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices and capping the out-of-pocket cost of medications for seniors, including capping the cost of insulin at $35/month; making the largest investment in our nation’s efforts to combat the climate crisis, generating 9 million good paying jobs; and investing in the IRS to ensure taxpayers are treated fairly and are able to access resources to make filing as easy as possible.

Congressman Neal is the dean of both the Massachusetts Delegation and the New England Congressional Delegation, as well as an At-Large Whip for the House Democrats. He is also the Democratic Leader of the Friends of Ireland Caucus, where he has advocated for maintaining strong relations between the U.S. and Ireland. He played a prominent role in not only bringing the Good Friday Agreement to fruition, ending the longest period of conflict in Irish history, but also in upholding the principles of the accord and ensuring no return to a hard border.

Congressman Neal is a long-time guest lecturer at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and has received many awards and honorary degrees in his career, including an Honorary Degree of Humane Letters from Mount Holyoke College where he is a former trustee, an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws from Ulster University in Northern Ireland, and an Honorary Degree from Queen’s University Belfast.

Prior to his time in Congress, Neal was a high school teacher, member of the Springfield City Council, and Mayor of the City of Springfield from 1984 to 1988.

Colleen C. Davis
Treasurer
Delaware

Delaware Treasurer Colleen C. Davis is the recipient of the 2024 Distinguished State Leader Award for her role in the successful development and enactment of Delaware Expanding Access to Retirement & Necessary Savings (EARNS), an auto-IRA program for Delaware private-sector workers not covered by an employer-sponsored retirement plan. The legislation was passed with bipartisan support.

Colleen Davis was elected State Treasurer in November 2018 and re-elected to a second term in 2022. Since taking office, Treasurer Davis has focused on three main priorities: bolstering retirement security and readiness, creating pathways to economic empowerment, and promoting a culture of financial excellence. Highlights of her first term include maintaining Delaware’s AAA bond rating, increasing return on the state’s investments by more than $58 million, and creating the Delaware EARNS program.

She is a member of the National Association of State Treasurers (NAST) and was elected Eastern Region Vice President in August 2021. Treasurer Davis also sits on the Executive Board of the College Savings Plans Network (CSPN) and is a member of the Market Transparency Advisory Group (MTAG) of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB).

In her official state capacity locally, Treasurer Davis serves on the Cash Management Policy Board, the Plans Management Board, the State Employees Benefit Committee (SEBC), the Government Efficiency and Accountability Review Board (GEAR), the Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Council (DEFAC), the Agricultural Lands Preservation Board, the Delaware Council on Volunteer Fire Service, and the Board of Pardons. She is also a member of the Southern Sussex Rotary Club.

Previously, Davis served as treasurer of the Delaware Physician Assistant Advocacy Group (DAPA) and as a member of the Advisory Board of Forge Life Sciences and sat on the Board of Delaware Maritime Education. In conjunction with these achievements, she has also served as a financial consultant to large medical institutions and small independent practices. As such, she has created fiscal stability and improved positive patient outcomes, while saving millions of dollars in overall healthcare costs.

Elizabeth (Beth) Bordowitz
Executive Director
Maine Retirement Savings Board

Beth Bordowitz, recipient of a 2024 CRI Best of the State Spotlight Award, is the Executive Director of the Maine Retirement Savings Board (MRSB). In this role, she is responsible for the implementation of the Maine Retirement Investment Trust (MERIT), a new auto-IRA retirement savings program for private sector workers who do not have access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan. The MRSB entered into the first-in-the-nation partnership with the Colorado Secure Savings Program in August 2023, launched its program pilot in October 2023, and will open its program to all eligible employers in January 2024.

Before her tenure with the MRSB, Bordowitz served as general counsel to and then CEO of the Finance Authority of Maine (FAME) from 2007 to 2014. At FAME, she was instrumental in the development and implementation of numerous programs, including the State of Maine’s venture capital fund and College Savings Program — the NextGen College Investing Plan. She previously served as the Vice President of Legal and Administration for the Forman S. Acton Educational Foundation from its inception in 2014 through 2018 and as a Peace Corps Community Development volunteer in North Macedonia from 2018 to 2020.

Bordowitz currently is a member of the Board of Directors of the Maine Health Access Foundation. She has held leadership roles on numerous nonprofit and governmental boards of directors, including the Portland Public Library, Alfond Scholarship Foundation, Maine Development Foundation, Portland Zoning Board of Appeals, and Family Crisis Shelter. She is a certified mediator on the Maine Courts family matters roster. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers College, master’s degree in public policy from the Eagleton Institute of Politics of Rutgers University, and Juris Doctor from Rutgers School of Law-Camden.

Jessica Muirhead
Executive Director
MyCTSavings Program

Jessica Muirhead, Executive Director of the Connecticut Retirement Security Program (CRSP), or MyCTSavings, a state-facilitated auto-IRA savings program for employees without access to a retirement benefit at work, is a recipient of a 2024 CRI Best of the State Spotlight Award.

The fourth program of its kind in the country to publicly launch, the CRSP was created by law in 2016 to help employees easily save for a dignified retirement. Muirhead joined the effort in 2020 through the Office of the State Comptroller and ushered the CRSP through its build to launch, including establishing its governance and operational structures, vendor contracts, outreach and marketing strategy, pilot phase, and launch within 18 months. MyCTSavings now serves thousands of employers and tens of thousands of employees throughout Connecticut to build a more secure future for its workforce.

A Connecticut and Hartford County native, Muirhead has found fulfillment in a career of public and nonprofit service. Before serving in the Comptroller’s office, she was the senior manager at the Capitol Region Purchasing Council, an intergovernmental procurement collective at the Capitol Region Council of Governments in Connecticut. She earned a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Connecticut’s Executive MPA program.