Congress quietly exempts union pension plans from auto-enrollment rules

What it does

This bill amends the tax code to exempt multiemployer pension plans from automatic enrollment requirements that apply to most retirement plans. Multiemployer plans (typically union or industry-wide plans covering workers across multiple employers) will no longer be required to automatically enroll eligible employees in the plan, matching an exemption already granted to church plans.

Why we flagged it

The bill reduces regulatory requirements on multiemployer pension plans by carving out an exemption from automatic enrollment mandates. While framed narrowly as a technical amendment, it functionally deregulates plan sponsor obligations.

What the text implies

• Automatic enrollment is a behavioral economics tool proven to increase retirement savings participation; removing it may reduce effective coverage rates among lower-wage workers in multiemployer plans, who are less likely to opt in manually.
• Multiemployer plans cover approximately 10 million workers, primarily in construction, transportation, and other union-heavy industries; this exemption affects a substantial population.
• The exemption mirrors church plan treatment but lacks the policy rationale (religious autonomy) that justifies church plan exemptions, suggesting the carve-out may be driven by plan sponsor lobbying rather than principled legislative design.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Removing automatic enrollment requirements reduces the likelihood that eligible workers in multiemployer plans will be enrolled in retirement savings, lowering retirement security for participants who might otherwise benefit from automatic enrollment's behavioral nudge. Employers and plan sponsors gain administrative relief, but workers bear the cost of reduced default participation.

Who stands to gain

• multiemployer pension plan sponsors
• plan administrators
• employers participating in multiemployer plans

Named in the bill

Internal Revenue Code Section 414A(c)(3), Section 414(e) (church plans), Section 414(f) (multiemployer plans), multiemployer pension plans, church plans

Where it stands

17 cosponsors: 9 Republicans, 8 Democrats.

• Dec 12, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Dec 12, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

3 lobbying clients named this bill on 6 disclosure filings across 3 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $204,937 in lobbying spend. A filing names 4 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 61% of bills with at least one filing.

Brad Finstad, the sponsor, reported $981,433 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• International Union of Painters and Allied Trades — $140,000 on 1 filing
• International Union of Painters & Allied Trades District Council 7 — $39,000 on 3 filings
• Health&pensionworks — $25,937 on 2 filings

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.