Paulsen, Colleagues Introduce Legislation to Restore Americans’ Savings
Minnesota Congressman Co-Sponsor of Savings Recovery Act to restore and protect retirement, college savings, seniors

WASHINGTON – Congressman Erik Paulsen (MN-03) joined several of his colleagues in the U.S. House today in introducing the Savings Recovery Act (H.R. 2021), an aggressive plan aimed at restoring and strengthening savings plans of Americans that have been decimated as a result of the economic and financial downturn.  Paulsen is a co-sponsor of the legislation and was recently appointed by House Minority Leadership to serve on a Congressional working group aimed at helping Americans rebuild their savings.

“In the past year, my constituents and people across the nation have seen their retirements and savings plummet,” Paulsen said.  “The weak economy, along with many of the poor decisions and policies that contributed to it, has hit American workers, families and retirees extremely hard - through no fault of their own.  We need to take decisive steps that will immediately help Americans rebuild their savings and I am proud to be part of this strong effort to do exactly that.” 

Specifically, the Savings Recovery Act will:

• Make it easier for Americans to save more for their retirement by increasing the contribution and catch-up limits for individuals and families.

• Restore college savings by extending the existing SAVERs Credit to contributions made to 529 college savings accounts, effectively reducing by up to half the cost of a family’s contribution to the plan. 

• Increase retirement income by doubling the Social Security earnings limit from $14,160 to $28,320 and allowing more Americans to increase their income without being hit by the Social Security earnings penalty.

• Provide tax relief for investors and seniors by immediately suspending the capital gains tax on newly acquired assets for the next two years, raise and index to inflation the amount of capital losses allowed against ordinary income to $10,000, and suspend taxes on dividend income through 2011.

• Stabilize worker pensions and help employers invest in the future by temporarily providing an increased glide path for recognizing losses and two additional years to resolve pension funding shortfalls.

• Preserve employee-controlled 401(k)s by blocking efforts to wipe out 401(k)s entirely and replace them with government-run accounts.

For more information, please visit www.paulsen.house.gov.

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