The Delaware EARNS Program Board is considering cooperation with other state-run retirement plans serving private-sector employees, Ted Griffith, Program Director of Delaware EARNS, confirmed with the NTSA Advisor on Nov. 6. Elizabeth Bordowitz, Executive Director of the Maine Retirement Investment Trust, confirmed that on Nov. 3 as well. 
Griffith, said that Delaware EARNS is “in negotiations with Colorado” and that they also are “keeping Maine informed of our progress.” He described the discussions as “productive.”
Gov. John Carney (D) on Aug. 18, 2022 signed into law the measure that creates the Delaware Expanding Access for Retirement and Necessary Savings (EARNS) program. The Delaware EARNS Program Board, which oversees initial design and implementation of the program and will exist to the end of 2025, on July 13, 2023 authorized the office of State Treasurer Colleen Davis to evaluate entering into an interstate partnership or multistate consortium to support the launch and future success of EARNS. The Delaware Treasury and AKF Consulting Group determined that doing so could cut start-up costs, speed the launch of EARNS, lower initial fees for participants, and acceleratE decreases in program fees.
Bordowitz told the NTSA Advisor that the Delaware EARNS Board has authorized its staff to work on reaching agreements with Vestwell and Colorado. Vestwell provides services to the state-run programs operated by Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, New Mexico and Oregon.
MERIT and Colorado SecureSavings Cooperation
The Maine Retirement Investment Trust (MERIT) and the Colorado Secure Savings program on Aug. 11, 2023 established a partnership to provide retirement plan coverage to private-sector employees whose employers do not. Under the agreement, MERIT will join with Colorado SecureSavings program in offering coverage; they will operate independently, but share governance.
Bordowitz offers a closer look at that arrangement. She told the NTSA Advisor:
“When Colorado SecureSavings (Colorado) did its RFP for program administration and recordkeeping services to administer the program, it did a joint procurement anticipating a partnership, particularly for states with smaller populations that might find it more difficult to implement a cost effective auto IRA plan for its workers.
The partnership establishes Colorado as the lead partner charged with the primary interaction with the program manager. It further establishes that all partners establish a separate, but related contractual relationship with Vestwell, which takes into account specific state requirements. A requirement of the partnership is that partner states utilize the same investment options at the same pricing as Colorado.
The Maine Retirement Savings Board could (and did) seek independent investment advice as to the investments and the pricing. While Colorado is the lead partner, the partnership agreements establish that all major program matters will be considered by the partnership as a group and determined by a majority of the partners. These may include extension of the program management agreement with Vestwell under its terms or undertaking a new RFP as a group. It could also include adding new elements to the program.”
Timing
Bordowitz reports that the Delaware EARNS Program Board may make a final decision at their Dec. 7 meeting.
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