Section 19 Access to Retirement Savings 2

Said section 64 of said chapter 29, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by adding the following paragraph:-

          The state treasurer, on behalf of the commonwealth, may establish an automatic enrollment feature within the deferred compensation program. The automatic enrollment feature shall not require prior authorization by an employee. Automatic enrollment features shall be set forth in the deferred compensation plan document and shall include, but not be limited to, the following provisions:

          (i) automatic enrollment shall apply only to employees hired on or after January 1, 2026; provided, however, that for any commonwealth agencies or departments that purchase or make payments to an individual or group annuity contract, custodial account, or any other investment authorized under section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code for its employees, automatic enrollment shall only apply at said agency's or department's discretion and affirmative election;

          (ii) automatic enrollment shall apply only to new employees of a "governmental body", as defined in section 64B, if the governmental body elects to implement the automatic enrollment feature for its employees;

          (iii) automatic enrollment shall not require new employees to defer any amount of their compensation;

          (iv) an employee who is automatically enrolled shall have the option decline participation in the plan and shall have 90 days from the date of enrollment to discontinue participation in the plan;

          (v) an automatically enrolled employee who discontinues participation in the plan within 90 days shall receive a refund of their account as soon as practicable after discontinuing participation;

          (vi) a qualified default investment option to receive contributions by any automatically-enrolled employee who does not choose an investment alternative to receive the employee's contributions; and

          (vii) notice requirements to automatically-enrolled participants in accordance with federal law.

This section, together with related sections, enables the Treasurer to automatically enroll new state employees into the state's deferred compensation program, unless the employee chooses to opt out.