Smucker Domestic Abuse Survivor Support Measure Advanced by Committee

Washington, D.C. — Today during a meeting of the Committee on Ways and Means, Representative Lloyd Smucker supported legislation to strengthen the retirement security of Americans, known as the Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2021. The legislation also included Smucker-led Savings Access For Escaping and Rebuilding (SAFER) Act, to allow penalty-free withdrawals from retirement plans by domestic abuse survivors. Smucker introduced the bipartisan SAFER Act with Reps. Lucy McBath (D-GA-06) and Gwen Moore (D-WI-04).

"I am thankful that the Ways and Means Committee advanced this critical support to survivors of domestic abuse. Allowing retirement account funds to be accessed penalty-free will provide an additional resource to domestic abuse survivors. This can be critical to ensuring that they are able to remove themselves from an abusive situation and find safety. I appreciate Reps. McBath and Moore for working with me to advance this provision and for their support for domestic abuse survivors," said Smucker. "Additionally, the underlying bill provides additional incentives and aid to assist individuals in building a secure financial future. I urge the House and Senate to further advance this legislation."

Background on the SAFER ACT:

Domestic abuse is the physical, psychological, sexual, emotional, or economic abuse of a person, including efforts to control, isolate, humiliate, or intimidate the victim, their child(ren), or other family member. Under current tax law, early withdrawal from a retirement fund can result in financial penalties. Currently, hardship withdrawals are limited to certain expenses, and there is no specific protection for survivors of domestic abuse.

This bill adds a provision to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow victims to withdraw up to $10,000 from their retirement plan within one year of experiencing domestic abuse. The amount a victim withdraws from their retirement fund may be replenished within a 3-year period from penalty-free distribution. Full text of the bill can be found here.

Click here to watch Rep. Smucker's comments during today's mark-up.

Background on the Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2021, courtesy of the Committee on Ways and Means:

• Promote savings earlier for retirement by enrolling employees automatically in their company's 401(k) plan, when a new plan is created;
• Create a new financial incentive for small businesses to offer retirement plans;
• Direct the Internal Revenue Service to promote the Saver's Credit to increase utilization;
• Expand retirement savings options for non-profit employees by allowing groups of non-profits to join together to offer retirement plans to their employees;
• Allow individuals to save for retirement longer by increasing the required minimum distribution age to 75;
• Offer individuals ages 62, 63 and 64 more flexibility to set aside savings as they approach retirement;
• Allow individuals to pay down a student loan instead of contributing to a 401(k) plan and still receive an employer match in their retirement plan;
• Make it easier for military spouses who change jobs frequently to save for retirement;
• Allow individuals more flexibility to make gifts to charity through their IRAs;
• Allow taxpayers to avoid harsh penalties for inadvertent errors managing an IRA that can lead to a loss of retirement savings;
• Protect retirees who unknowingly receive retirement plan overpayments; and
• Make it easier for employees to find lost retirement accounts by creating a national, online, database of lost accounts.

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