Skip to main content

You are here

Advertisement


Connecticut Seeks Input on State-sponsored Retirement Plan

The Nutmeg State is looking for public comments on the feasibility of a state-sponsored retirement plan for all private sector employees. Connecticut State Comptroller Kevin Lembo (D) and State Treasurer Denise Nappier (D), who co-chair the Connecticut Retirement Security Board (CSRB) created earlier this year to come up with a plan, are looking for public comment on a market feasibility study that is due to the legislature by Jan. 1, 2016. 

Feasibility Study 

The board’s mandate is to conduct a market feasibility study on the implementation of a public retirement plan and to develop a comprehensive proposal for implementation of such a plan by April 2016. 

The market feasibility study will examine the feasibility of the goals and design features of the plan under the statute and will recommend methods by which these can be accomplished. That study will examine:

  • Likely participation rates
  • Contribution levels
  • Rate of account closures and rollovers 
  • Ability to provide employers with a payroll deposit system for remitting contributions from employees
  • Funding options for implementation of the plan
  • Likely insurance costs and whether such costs should be subject to the limit on annual administrative expenses
  • Legal compliance necessary to ensure the individual retirement accounts qualify for the favorable federal income tax treatment ordinarily accorded to individual retirement accounts under the Internal Revenue Code, and that the public retirement plan is not treated as an employee benefit plan under ERISA.

The state set aside about $400,000 in the most recent state budget for the study. 

Written public comments are due Nov. 3, and will be followed by a public hearing on Nov. 19, at a location to be determined, at which the public is invited to participate. More details about the request for public comment, including how and where to submit comments, are available on the CRSB’s website