119-hr5325

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5325 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 5325

 To direct the Secretary of Labor to promulgate a regulation allowing 
 administrators of certain pension plans to voluntarily transfer 
 unclaimed retirement distributions to State unclaimed property 
 programs.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 September 11, 2025

 Mr. Magaziner (for himself and Mr. Estes) introduced the following 
 bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce, 
and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
 of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
 concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To direct the Secretary of Labor to promulgate a regulation allowing 
 administrators of certain pension plans to voluntarily transfer 
 unclaimed retirement distributions to State unclaimed property 
 programs.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Unclaimed Retirement Rescue Plan''.

SEC. 2. UNCLAIMED RETIREMENT DISTRIBUTIONS REGULATION.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall promulgate a 
regulation described in subsection

    (b) .

    (b) Regulation Described.--The regulation described in this 
subsection shall--

    (1) comply with the requirements of this section; and

    (2) allow administrators of pension plans and other 
 responsible fiduciaries to transfer unclaimed retirement 
 distributions to State unclaimed property programs through the 
 States' Unclaimed Retirement Clearing House that manages the 
 voluntary transfer of funds nationally across State unclaimed 
 property programs.
            (c) Prerequisites for Plan and Other Responsible Fiduciary 
Transfers to States.--

    (1) In general.--Prior to transferring unclaimed retirement 
 distributions to State unclaimed property programs, a plan or 
 other responsible fiduciary shall, with respect to unclaimed 
 retirement distributions that are $50 or more--
        (A) to the extent that it has not already done so, 
 attempt to identify, through an informational database 
 search and through a search of a commercially 
 reasonable outside source, the current address and 
 other contact information, such as a phone number or 
 email address of a participant or other beneficiary 
 owed such a distribution if the plan or other 
 responsible fiduciary has reason to believe that 
 contact information of such participant or beneficiary 
 available to the plan or the fiduciary is inaccurate; 
 and
        (B) send a notice to the participant or beneficiary 
 entitled to such a distribution that--
            (i) explains that the plan or other 
 responsible fiduciary is in possession of the 
 distribution and that absent a timely response 
 from the participant or beneficiary, the 
 distribution will be transferred to the State 
 unclaimed property program of the State where 
 the participant or other party last resided; 
 and
            (ii) provides instructions to the 
 participant or beneficiary to prevent the 
 transfer of the distribution to a State 
 unclaimed property program.

    (2) Form of notice.--For the purposes of sending a notice 
 described in paragraph

    (1)
        (B) , the plan administrator or other 
 responsible fiduciary may determine the form of sending such 
 notice, so long as such notice--
        (A) is reasonably expected to reach the participant 
 or beneficiary; and
        (B) is sent in a secure means, such as through 
 email, an online portal, or the mail, and protects the 
 personal information of participants and beneficiaries.

    (3) Mailing not required.--The sending of a notice 
 described in paragraph

    (1) shall not be required if, following 
 completion of the search required by paragraph

    (1)
        (A) , the 
 search does not provide updated contact information for a 
 participant or beneficiary.
            (d) Plan or Fiduciary Relief.--Notwithstanding any other provision 
of law, the administrator of a pension plan or other fiduciary that 
satisfies the requirements of this section and any applicable 
regulations when making a transfer to a State unclaimed property 
program shall, with respect to such transfer, be deemed to have 
satisfied the requirements of sections 404

    (a) and 406 of the Employee 
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1104

    (a) ; 1106).

    (e) Information Sharing Mechanism.--For the purposes of updating 
plan records and ensuring compliance with 

section 404 of the Employee 
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1104), the Secretary 
shall make available to plan administrators a means of verifying 
whether a distribution transferred under this section to a State 
unclaimed property program has been claimed by a participant or 
beneficiary.

    (f) Report Required.--

    (1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
 enactment of this Act, and every 90 days thereafter, a plan 
 fiduciary shall submit to the Secretary of Labor a report that 
 includes--
        (A) with respect to each transfer of an unclaimed 
 retirement distribution to a State unclaimed property 
 program that has not been reported to the Secretary--
            (i) the name, social security number, date 
 of birth, and last known address of the 
 participant or beneficiary entitled to the 
 unclaimed retirement distribution, including 
 any applicable qualified domestic relations 
 order (as defined in 

section 206
            (d) (3)
        (B)
            (i) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act 
 of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1056
            (d) (3)
        (B)
            (i) ));
            (ii) the amount of the distribution 
 transferred;
            (iii) the State to which the transfer was 
 made; and
            (iv) the name of the plan or responsible 
 fiduciary who transferred the distribution; and
        (B) with respect to any transfer of an unclaimed 
 retirement distribution to a State unclaimed property 
 program that has been claimed by a participant or 
 beneficiary, an identification of such transfer.

    (2) Report not subject to public disclosure.--A report 
 required under this subsection shall not be subject to public 
 disclosure under 

section 552 of title 5, United States Code.

    (3) Retirement savings lost and found.--
        (A) In general.--The Secretary of Labor shall 
 include all information submitted under paragraph

    (1) and any information received pursuant to the mechanism 
 established under subsection
            (d) in the Retirement 
 Savings Lost and Found Database, established pursuant 
 to 

section 523 of the Employee Retirement Income 
 Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1153).
        (B) Collected distributions.--From the information 
 received under this subsection, indicate in such 
 database the distributions that were claimed by a 
 participant or beneficiary.

    (g) Participant Data.--A pension plan or fiduciary will not violate 

section 404

    (a) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and shall 
not be subject to liability for transmitting participant data to a 
State unclaimed property program through a national clearinghouse, 
provided that the pension plan or fiduciary exercises reasonable care 
in making the transmittal.

    (h) Treatment of Transfer for Purposes of Qualified Trust Rules.--A 
trust forming part of a pension plan shall not be treated as failing to 
constitute a qualified trust under 

section 401 of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 merely because the pension plan of which such trust is a 
part makes a transfer that meets the requirements of this section and 
the regulations promulgated thereunder.
            (i) Congressional Report.--Not later than 24 months after the 
promulgation of the regulation described in subsection

    (a) , the 
Secretary of Labor shall submit to Congress a report--

    (1) on the progress and effectiveness of the regulation; 
 and

    (2) any recommendations on how to improve the regulation.

    (j) 

=== Definitions. ===
-In this Act:

    (1) Contact information.--The term ``contact information'', 
 with respect to a participant or beneficiary, means identifying 
 information, including a mailing address, phone number, or 
 email address.

    (2) ERISA terms.--In this Act, the terms ``administrator'', 
 ``fiduciary'', and ``pension plan'' have the meanings given the 
 terms in 

section 3 of the Employee Retirement Income Security 
 Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1003).

    (3) Informational database.--The term ``informational 
 database'' means a commercially available database or a 
 government-provided database.

    (4) Outside source.--The term ``outside source'' means a 
 commercial locator database, address verification service, or a 
 publicly or commercially accessible database.

    (5) State unclaimed property program.--As used in this Act, 
 the term ``State unclaimed property program'' means the 
 statutory-based initiative undertaken by the 50 State, the 
 District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin 
 Islands to safeguard and return financial assets that have 
 become unclaimed or forgotten by their owners.

    (6) Unclaimed retirement distribution.--
        (A) In general.--The term ``unclaimed retirement 
 distribution'' means--
            (i) with respect to a pension plan that has 
 undergone or is in the process of termination, 
 any distribution that has not been cashed or 
 otherwise claimed within the 90-day period 
 beginning on the date that the distribution 
 became payable; or
            (ii) with respect to any other pension 
 plan, any single unpaid obligation owed to a 
 participant or beneficiary by such a pension 
 plan that has not been cashed or otherwise 
 claimed for a 12-month period beginning on the 
 date that the such obligation became payable, 
 and does not exceed $5,000, regardless of--
            (I) the basis for the obligation;
            (II) whether an attempt to 
 distribute the obligation was returned 
 as undeliverable; or
            (III) whether it has been 
 previously reduced to a check or other 
 form of payment.
        (B) Maximum amount.--The Secretary of Labor may, in 
 their discretion, increase the $5,000 limit in clause
            (ii) of subparagraph
        (A) .
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