HB 470 Summary

• Requires the legislative reference bureau to conduct a feasibility study on establishing a Hawaii retirement savings program for private sector employees not covered by employer-sponsored retirement plans, with preliminary report due 20 days before the 2020 legislative session and final report due 20 days before the 2021 session.

• Establishes an 11-member Hawaii retirement savings board within the department of budget and finance to administer the program if the feasibility study supports it, with members including state officials, legislators, and representatives from business and community sectors.

• Creates the Hawaii retirement savings program allowing employees to contribute through payroll deductions with automatic enrollment (with opt-out option), default contribution rates, and investment pooling, provided the employer does not already offer a qualified retirement plan.

• Program prohibits employer contributions to employee accounts, guarantees no rate of return, requires professional management, maintains participant confidentiality, and allows account holders to maintain accounts across employers and roll over funds to other retirement accounts.

• Appropriates unspecified funds for fiscal years 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 to conduct the market analysis and prohibits employers offering retirement plans from canceling them for an unspecified period after July 1, 2019.