'No Chance' for Tax Changes but Expect Secure Act 2.0 Passage This Year

While there’s “no chance” that any major tax changes could win enactment this year, according to Greg Valliere, chief U.S. strategist for AGF Investments, political watchers agree that Secure Act 2.0 retirement legislation will pass during the lame-duck session of Congress.

Lawmakers are pushing for passage of the sweeping retirement bill. On Tuesday, The Hill published an op-ed by Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Ben Cardin, D-Md., titled “Now Is the Time to Get Bipartisan Retirement Reform Done.”

The two lawmakers championed their Retirement Security and Savings Act, which they said “includes dozens of provisions to help improve retirement security for all Americans.” Most of the bill was included in the Enhancing American Retirement Now (EARN) Act, which was unanimously passed by the Senate Finance Committee in June, the lawmakers noted.

The Senate Finance Committee released the final text of the EARN Act on Sept. 8. The EARN Act will be part of the Senate’s Secure 2.0 package, which must be reconciled with the House version.

The lame-duck session will be “jammed packed with the National Defense Authorization, marriage equality, the 2023 budget, Secure Act 2.0 and more,” notes Jeff Bush of The Washington Update.

A spokesperson for the Insured Retirement Institute told ThinkAdvisor in a recent email that “We understand that House and Senate staff are communicating [about Secure Act 2.0 legislation] but we do not expect any significant movement until after the election.”

IRI, the spokesperson said, “remains optimistic that Congress will pass Secure 2.0 by the end of the year.”

Midterms and the Markets

With the midterm elections in full swing, political watchers are busy prognosticating what that means for the markets. “Advisors should prepare their clients for a tumultuous election count season with commensurate market volatility,” Bush told ThinkAdvisor in a recent email. “There will be surprises in the elections; just be prepared.”

In his recent Capitol Notes email briefing, Valliere noted that “the prospect of gridlock or a Republican tilt would be most welcome,” and that “activist legislation would stall.”