Washington Governor OKs Small Business Retirement Marketplace

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Monday signed into law the Washington Small Business Retirement Marketplace, bipartisan legislation that uses the Obama administration’s MyRA plan to provide small business employees with access to retirement plans.

The law, sponsored by two democratic lawmakers in the state, Sen. Mark Mullet and Rep. Larry Springer, creates a voluntary “marketplace” program and establishes a public website that will connect small business employers to existing private-sector retirement plan vendors.

“Washington State’s enactment of the Washington Small Business Retirement Marketplace is a testament to the State’s desire to effectively and efficiently close the retirement savings gap, while steadfastly refusing to compromise investor protections,” said Marin Gibson, managing director at the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, in a statement.

“Small businesses often don’t have the information and resources available to find the right retirement savings plan for their employees, and this program will provide easy access to low-cost, low-fee options that are fully portable and provide the same investor protections available to private investors.”

The Washington program uses the new federal MyRA as its cornerstone, and will be run by the Washington State Department of Commerce. It will establish a digital marketplace to match employers with 100 or fewer employees with private sector plans.