Summary#
This bill, the "Advancing Policy Priorities Act," is a large, multi-topic package of changes across many Federal programs. It includes extensions and small program changes for livestock reporting; new veteran apprenticeship information and a public apprenticeship website; changes to retirement and pension rules and tax rules affecting retirement accounts; a new SBA "Boots to Business" entrepreneurship program for veterans and family members; higher penalties for sex trafficking and coercion when crimes occur in school zones; creation of a commission to study a possible National Museum of Asian Pacific American History and Culture; a SelectUSA review and report on increasing foreign direct investment in semiconductor manufacturing; a Department of Homeland Security review process for certain equipment purchases; extended NASA enhanced-use lease authority by one year; requirements for House committee hearings on the Act; updates to House rules to protect whistleblower identities; a study of foreign ownership of terminals at large U.S. container ports; changes to Federal credit union board meeting frequency; and several small appropriations for agency programs. The bill contains many detailed changes to the Internal Revenue Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act related to automatic retirement plan enrollment, saver’s credit rules, required minimum distributions, catch-up limits, employer credits, student loan payments counting for employer match, plan correction rules, coverage for part-time workers, and creation of a public "Retirement Savings Lost and Found" database.
What it means for you#
- If you are a veteran or part of a military family: the bill directs work to promote registered apprenticeship programs to veterans and establishes the Boots to Business training program that offers courses and outreach materials.
- If you participate in or run an employer retirement plan: the bill would add automatic enrollment requirements for many plans, allow employer matching for qualified student loan payments, change required minimum distribution ages in stages, raise or index some catch-up limits, and create new correction and reporting rules. It would also create a searchable federal database to help people find lost retirement accounts.
- If you are a person affected by domestic abuse or a first responder: the bill creates penalty-free withdrawal rules for domestic abuse victims and a tax exclusion for certain first responder disability retirement payments (with later effective dates where specified).
- If you are a student, employee, or employer using retirement accounts: the bill includes many technical changes that affect plan testing, pooled and multiple-employer plans, 403(b) and 457 plans, and hardship or loan rules.
- If you are connected to schools or colleges: certain human trafficking and coercion offenses carry an added up-to-5-year prison term when they occur in school zones or within 1,000 feet of school-sponsored activities or higher-education premises.
- If you work in semiconductors or state economic development: SelectUSA must solicit state input and report on ways to increase foreign direct investment in semiconductor-related manufacturing.
- If you are a library, museum, or community organization: a commission will study the feasibility and costs of a National Museum of Asian Pacific American History and Culture and report recommendations.
Expenses#
- The bill lists specific additional appropriations of $1,000,000 each to several accounts for fiscal purposes (examples in the bill text):
- Telehealth Resource Center (HHS) for nursing facility telehealth assistance: $1,000,000.
- Office of Budget and Program Analysis (USDA): $1,000,000.
- State Department Capital Investment Fund: $1,000,000.
- Army operation and maintenance (DOD): $1,000,000.
- DHS Management Directorate operations and support: $1,000,000.
- Energy Information Administration (DOE): $1,000,000.
- The bill also directs agencies to issue regulations and reports that may result in administrative costs, and Title XIV refers to a House Budget Committee statement for the bill's overall budgetary effects. There is no Congressional Budget Office cost estimate or total cost figure included in the text provided.
Proponents' View#
No publicly available information.
Opponents' View#
No publicly available information.