Democratic Assistant Senate Majority Leader Eloise Vitelli is urging support for a bill she’s sponsoring that would establish a state-run retirement savings program for Maine workers who don’t have access to one through their employer.
“Gaining an understanding and control of your own finances is often the cornerstone of personal freedom,” she says. “This bill would allow more Mainers to gain that control.”
Speaking at a press conference at the State House, Vitelli says nearly half of Maine workers in the private sector don’t have an easy way to save for retirement. She says her so-called Work and Save bill would make saving easy, and employers would not be required to contribute.
“Let the employees use their payroll system as a conduit. The employees’ own money, out of their own pay, gets saved in the employees’ own individual account,” says Mark Iwry with the Brookings Institution, the bill’s chief architect.
Iwry says several states — including California, Illinois, and Oregon — have implemented similar retirement programs. According to AARP Maine, more than 235-thousand private sector workers in Maine don’t have access to a retirement plan for through their employers.
