Scott Champions Bills to Protect and Strengthen Workers’ Retirement Security

Scott Champions Bills to Protect and Strengthen Workers' Retirement Security

"If Congress considers a 'SECURE 3.0' retirement bill in the future, these pro-worker bills must be included."

WASHINGTON- Today, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and Workforce Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (D-VA-03) touted three bills to secure workers' retirement savings.

The first, the Workers' Retirement Savings Protection Act of 2026, would ensure workers are not ripped off when investing their retirement savings. The second, the Protecting Workers' Benefits Act of 2026 would better enable workers, retirees, and their families to enforce their rights under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). And the third, he co-sponsored the Employee and Retiree Access to Justice Act of 2026, with Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee Ranking Member Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA-10) and Senator Tina Smith (D-MN), to ensure workers can fight back when they are denied benefits under an employee benefit plan.

"Unfortunately, in the 119th Congress, Republicans relentlessly tried to weaken retirement savers' rights and protections. At the same time, the Trump Administration increased risk for workers trying to save for a dignified retirement. This is unacceptable. We must reverse course and advance an agenda that protects workers' retirement savings and strengthens their ability to enforce their rights under ERISA. For instance, we must stop unscrupulous financial advisors from ripping off their retirement clients and ensure workers have access to courts to challenge mental health benefit denials and fiduciary breaches," said Ranking Member Scott. "That's what these bills would do. If Congress considers a 'SECURE 3.0' retirement bill in the future, these pro-worker bills must be included."

Those who can build a retirement nest egg may seek financial advice. While most financial advisors act in their retirement clients' best interests, bad actors can easily exploit regulatory loopholes and provide conflicted advice that costs workers billions of dollars in losses every year. The Workers' Retirement Savings Protection Act of 2026 would close these loopholes and protect retirement savers from being harmed by conflicted advice.

Specifically, the bill would:

• Ensure workers receive retirement investment advice, including advice on their 401(k)s, IRAs, and rollovers, that's in their best interest - even if they only hire an advisor on a one-time basis.
• Stop bad actors from evading their fiduciary duty by hiding behind vague boilerplate language saying that they never intended for their advice to serve as the "primary basis" for an investment decision.

Additionally, current law applies to those advisors who render retirement investment advice for a fee or other compensation, direct or indirect. The Workers' Retirement Savings Protection Act of 2026 specifies that such fees or other compensation include a broad range of payments from any source, including commissions, among other forms of payment that are connected with or the result of an advisor's recommendation.

The Workers' Retirement Savings Protection Act of 2026 is endorsed by the AFL-CIO, Alliance for Retired Americans, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM Union), Iron Workers International, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), and United Steelworkers (USW).

To read the bill text for the Workers' Retirement Savings Protection Act of 2026, click here.

To read a fact sheet for the Workers' Retirement Savings Protection Act of 2026, click here.

The Protecting Workers' Benefits Act of 2026 would ensure that participants and beneficiaries can exercise their rights under ERISA when they are harmed by mismanagement of their plan. Although ERISA guarantees "ready access to the Federal courts" by law, a 2020 Supreme Court decision, Thole v. U.S. Bank, has restricted standing under ERISA in many cases until a plan is on the brink of collapse - even when clear fiduciary mismanagement has already caused massive financial losses. The Protecting Workers' Benefits Act of 2026 would allow individuals who have been harmed by mismanagement to bring an action as assignees on behalf of their plan, similar to actions brought by whistleblowers under the False Claims Act.

To read the bill text for the Protecting Workers' Benefits Act of 2026, click here.

The Employee and Retiree Access to Justice Act of 2026 would strengthen the rights of workers, retirees, and their families to seek relief under ERISA. It would deem pre-dispute and post-dispute forced arbitration clauses, class action waivers, and representation waivers unenforceable, ensuring participants and beneficiaries receive their day in court when they are affected by fiduciary mismanagement or benefit denials. It would also prohibit "discretionary clauses" under certain ERISA plans to ensure that individuals receive de novo review when they challenge a benefit denial in federal court.

"Too often, employers can deny workers the right to appeal a claim denial in court or impose huge burdens that make it nearly impossible to win a suit for wrongly denied benefits. The Employee and Retiree Access to Justice Act would put the power back in the hands of workers by clarifying their right to take their bosses to court if they aren't being paid what they're owed," said Senator Smith.

To read the bill text for the Employee and Retiree Access to Justice Act of 2026, click here.

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