|
The Outlook for Pension Issues in the House
Scott DeFife, Senior Policy Advisor
Office of Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), House Minority Whip
Democrats in the House of Representatives will oppose the Bush Ad ministration’s proposals for Lifetime Savings Accounts, Retirement Savings Accounts and Employer Retirement Savings Accounts. That was the message delivered by Scott DeFife, a senior policy advisor in the office of House minority whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD).
DeFife said President Bush’s proposals offer tax advantages in the first years after adoption, helping reduce the deficit, but would do little to encourage long-term savings. As an alternative, he expects Reps. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) to work for passage of a bipartisan pension bill, legislation the two have promoted for several years.
DeFife encouraged the attendees to educate the young, inexperienced staffers on the differences between public and private sector pension plans. “They need to understand that your plans are different, and that rule changes for public plans done incorrectly could harm public pension programs.”
DeFife has worked for four members of Congress, spending much of his time recently working on pension issues. Earlier in his career he worked on pension issues for the National Conference of State Legislatures.
|
