Administrative work would be a burden, owners say.
A recommendation that Oregon create a state retirement fund for the private sector
has small business owners worried.
Gary Peck, owner of several Hallmark stores in the state, says
the proposal would be another administrative burden on him and other small
business owners. And while the recommendation doesn’t include a requirement
that employers contribute to the fund, Peck suspects that at some point, the
program would require employers to pay something.
The recommendation came last year from a state task force and
would require the creation of new state board to oversee the program. The
recommendation also calls for the plan to include automatic enrollment and an
automatic escalation of contribution levels, which employees could opt out of.
Steve Ferree, owner of Mr. Rooter Plumbing near Portland,
already offers his employees a retirement plan, but only six of his 37 workers
participate. Instead of another government program, Peck and Ferree say what’s
needed is more education on the importance of saving.
Oregon’s plan is also redundant, critics say, thanks to the
federal government’s new myRA program for Americans who don’t have access to
employer-sponsored retirement plans.
NFIB Oregon State Director Jan Meekcoms says the problem with
the Oregon retirement plan recommendation is simple. “This legislation will
grow government, increase liability upon the employer and put government
squarely in competition with the private sector offering these services,” she
wrote in the Salem Business
Journal.
Meekcoms says the reason some small businesses do not offer a
retirement plan is that they can’t afford to. In addition, private sector
enterprises such as insurance agents and financial planners already exist to
help people save for retirement, she points out.
