2023 STATE PROGRAM STATUS

Since 2015, at least one or two states each year have enacted new state-facilitated retirement savings programs. During the 2023 state legislative sessions, at least 25 states and the District of Columbia have introduced legislation to establish new programs, amend existing programs, or form study groups to explore their options. As of June 30, 2023, three new auto-IRA programs have been enacted this year – Minnesota, Nevada, and Vermont and one new Multiple Employer Plan (MEP) in Missouri. Vermont changed its existing program from a voluntary MEP to an auto-IRA program.

As of June 30, 2023, there are 19 states that have enacted new programs for private sector workers (and also 2 cities (for a total of 21 programs), although the cities will not move forward to implement due to state legal and program actions) and 15* of these states are auto-IRA program states (see caveat below about the Hawai’i program model).

Since 2012, at least 47 states and the District of Columbia have acted to implement a new program, study program options, or consider legislation to establish state-facilitated retirement savings programs.

2023 STATE LEGISLATIVE ACTION

Visit the CRI Supporters Homepage to access the 2023 state legislative map, detailed information on the progress of state program implementations, the State Resource Center and much more.

2023 State Program Information Map
Click on this map to view quick links for program states
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Programs enacted (2012-present)

2023 STATE PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION UPDATES

21 Programs (19 states and 2 cities)

To date, new programs have adopted one or a combination of these four models:

• Auto-IRA (employer participation required if no plan is already offered)
• Payroll deduction IRA (voluntary)
• Multiple Employer Plan (MEP) (voluntary)
• Marketplace (voluntary)

There are now 21 enacted retirement savings programs (19 states and 2 cities**) for private sector workers.

*The new Hawaii program is a variation on the auto-IRA model.  Eligible employers must notify their employees about the program and, if employees choose to opt-in to the program, employers must then facilitate contributions to the programs.

**New York City’s program will no longer be implemented because New York State enacted an auto-IRA program and New York City would now become part of the state program. The Seattle, WA program is on hold indefinitely pending state legislative action.

***Vermont has changed its state program from a voluntary MEP enacted in 2017 to an auto-IRA program in 2023.

As of June 20, 2023, 9 of the 19 state programs (7 auto-IRA – CA, CO, CT, IL, MD, OR, and VA) and 2 others – MA (MEP) and WA (Marketplace) are open to all eligible employers and workers.

For an overview of all the state programs (with hyperlinks to state program websites and additional information), see State-Facilitated Retirement Savings Programs: A Snapshot of Plan Design Features (23-03, June 30, 2023 UPDATE).

PROGRAM LAUNCH AND EMPLOYER TIMELINES

The lessons from older auto-IRA programs (i.e., OR, IL, and CA) suggest that state programs can shorten their timelines for onboarding employers. Also, the creation of new inter-state partnerships supports shorter launch and onboarding timelines, as illustrated by the more recent launch of Maine’s MERIT program.

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Auto-IRA programs:

Oregon: OregonSaves opened to employers in 2017, and it is currently completing the onboarding of the smallest employers (those with 4 or fewer employees). The registration deadline for businesses with at least one employee was July 31, 2023.

Illinois: Illinois Secure Choice rolled out three of its five waves of eligible employer registrations between 2018 and 2019, but two new waves of smaller employers were authorized to be added in 2021 (the program expanded the number of employers covered by law from those with 25 or more employees to those with 5 or more employees). The fourth wave (16-24 employees) was completed in November 2022, and the registration deadline for the fifth wave (5-15 employees) was November 1, 2023.

California: CalSavers opened to all eligible employers in July 2019. Employers with 5 or more employees that have not received a notice to register in past years must register by December 31, 2023. Eligible employers with 1-4 employees should register by December 31, 2025.

Connecticut: MyCTSavings launched its employer pilot program at the end of October 2021 and opened to all eligible employers on April 1, 2022. The first wave of the program (for employers with 100 or more employees) was completed in June 2022; the second wave (26-99 employees) was completed in October 2022; and the third and final wave (5-25 employees) was completed in March 2023. The program deadline for all employers was extended to August 31, 2023.

Maryland: Maryland$aves launched its pilot in June 2022 and the full program launched on September 15, 2022.

Colorado: The Colorado Secure Savings Program launched its pilot program in October 2022 and opened to all eligible employers on January 18, 2023. As of June 30, 2023, all employer registration deadlines have passed.

Virginia: The retirement savings program facilitated by Virginia529 opened its pilot program in February 2023, and the program opened to all eligible employers on June 20, 2023.

Maine: MERIT opened its Pilot Program for employers and employees in October 2023. The full program launch, open to all eligible employers, will begin in January 2024. Employers with 15 or more employees will be required to register by April 30, 2024, those with less than 15 employees will be required to register by June 30, 2024, and final deadline for all covered employers is December 31, 2024.

Programs in Hawaii, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, and Vermont are still developing and finalizing implementation timelines.

It is important to note that any employer can registered to participate in a state program at any time and does not have to wait for their enrollment wave or phase to do so.  The deadline serves as a comply by date. 

Other State Programs: The Massachusetts’ CORE MEP opened for enrollment in October 2017, and the Washington State Retirement Marketplace opened in March 2018.

State Partnerships: The Colorado program has developed a prototype interstate agreement as a basis for partnership discussions with other states. In June 2023, the Colorado Secure Savings Program and the Maine Retirement Investment Trust agreed to finalize the details of an interstate partnership, which was officially announced on August 15, 2023 (View press release). As of July 2023, Delaware’s board agreed to explore partnering with another state.

In November 2021, the Colorado Secure Savings Program and the New Mexico Work and $ave Program signed a first-in-the-country Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) to pursue a formalized partnership agreement for their auto-enroll IRA programs. The MoC highlights areas of collaboration including shared program administration and financial services, marketing and outreach support, program evaluation and research, as well as data collection and participant privacy. As of June 2023, the Colorado and New Mexico partnership is currently on hold pending additional potential modifications to the design of the New Mexico state program.