Mike Conaway on Social Security Republican Representative (TX-11)

Make retirement saving options voluntary, portable, & secure

More than 64 million workers now hold $4.6 trillion in 401(k) savings, and $7.4 trillion in Individual Retirement Accounts. Despite this significant investment in retirement savings, far too many Americans still retire without financial security.

Task Force Solution: Advance responsible policies to strengthen retirement security.

House Republicans will continue to advocate for policies that ensure workers and retirees have access to savings options that are voluntary, portable, and secure. As part of that effort, Congress will work to eliminate unnecessary federal regulations that add to the cost of providing workers opportunities to save for retirement, such as legal restrictions that hamper the ability of employers to provide information about retirement benefits electronically and impede individuals from receiving affordable investment advice.

Let employers to band together to offer 401(k)s

To bring our retirement policies into the 21st century and empower working families, Congress should:
• Ensure plans are well-funded and employers remain in the system. Congress should make sure benefits are secure for workers and retirees and that employers are not discouraged from voluntarily offering these plans.
• Make it easier for employers to band together to offer 401(k)s. Under current law, certain businesses can join together to offer a retirement plan to their employees, but only under strict circumstances. Congress should eliminate these bureaucratic restrictions.
• Reduce costly red-tape, needless federal regulations, and mandates.

Rated 2% by ARA, indicating a pro-privatization stance.

Scoring system for 2014: Ranges from 0% (supports privatization and other market-based reforms) to 100% (supports keeping federal control over Trust Fund and Social Security system).

About ARA (from their website, www.RetiredAmericans.org):

The Alliance for Retired Americans is a nationwide organization, founded in May 2001, with now over 4.2 million members working together to make their voices heard in the laws, policies, politics, and institutions that shape our lives. The mission of the Alliance for Retired Americans is to ensure social and economic justice and full civil rights for all citizens so that they may enjoy lives of dignity, personal and family fulfillment and security.

• Alliance members visit the polls in record numbers. We use the power of our membership and our Congressional Voting Record to educate and mobilize seniors to elect leaders committed to improving the lives of retirees and older Americans.
• We are effectively warding off cuts to our most important social programs like Social Security and Medicare. Our Human Chain Against the Chained CPI events in the summer of 2013 took place in more than 50 cities and mobilized support for stopping this cut to earned Social Security benefits.
• We blocked the privatization of Social Security with our Social Security "Truth Truck" delivering 2.1 million petitions to Members of Congress and other tactics.
• The Alliance makes its voice heard on the issues that matter not just to current retirees, but to all Americans who hope to retire one day. We were a leading voice in recent debates considering changes to Medicare, like replacing guaranteed benefits with a voucher system, and remain so in 2014.