A Republican bill with 4 Democratic cosponsors · See all 7 cosponsors
Last activity — Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
In committee
Introduced and handed to a committee in the chamber it started in.
The committee holds it, and most bills are never heard from again. A hearing or a committee vote would be news; silence is the usual outcome, and it kills the bill without anyone voting against it.
Its path through Congress
- Introduced
- In Committee
What this bill would do
The "Helping Young Americans Save for Retirement Act" aims to amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. The bill focuses on adjusting minimum participation standards for pension plans and qualified trusts. Specifically, it seeks to change the age requirement for participation from 21 to 18 under certain conditions. It also addresses how employees are counted as participants in pension plans for certain accounting purposes. These changes are intended to apply to plan years beginning at least one year after the Act is enacted.
Yes
- Scored +6
Would people in their twenties and thirties be better off under this?
The bill allows young adults aged 18 to 20 to begin participating in pension plans earlier than the previous age of 21.
- Scored +3
Would households on low incomes be better off under this?
Earlier access to retirement participation can assist low-income workers in building long-term savings sooner.
The opposite
No question was scored the opposite.
Who it would affect, and how
Potential Positive Impacts for People
-
Earlier Retirement Participation: By substituting '18' for '21' in the requirements, the bill allows employees to meet participation standards at a younger age (Section 2, subsection a, paragraph 1).
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Alternative Participation Pathways: The bill provides an option for participation based on two consecutive 12-month periods where an employee has at least 500 hours of service (Section 2, subsection a, paragraph 1; Section 2, subsection b, paragraph 1).
Potential Negative Impacts for People
- Delayed Participant Counting: For pension plans where employees participate solely because of the new age provisions, an employee will not be counted as a participant until 5 years after the date the first such employee becomes a participant (Section 2, subsection a, paragraph 3).
Groups and Interests Ranking
Every group the model scored this bill for, from -10 to +10. Tap or hover a score for the reason it gave.
- Demographic And Interest Groups
- Would people in their twenties and thirties be better off under this? — The bill allows young adults aged 18 to 20 to begin participating in pension plans earlier than the previous age of 21. Would households on low incomes be better off under this? — Earlier access to retirement participation can assist low-income workers in building long-term savings sooner.
- 2/10/2026
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 1/6/2026
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 12/16/2025
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 12/3/2025
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 11/20/2025
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 11/18/2025
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 5/12/2025
- Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- Introduced in Senate
One bill Congress.gov lists as related to this one — companions in the other chamber, earlier versions, and bills this one absorbed or was folded into.
Angela AlsobrooksDemocrat · Maryland
Susan CollinsRepublican · Maine
Jon HustedRepublican · Ohio
Timothy KaineDemocrat · Virginia
Jeanne ShaheenDemocrat · New Hampshire
Tommy TubervilleRepublican · Alabama
Raphael WarnockDemocrat · Georgia