Congress quietly exempts union pension plans from auto-enrollment rules
S. 3615 — Multiemployer Plan Relief Act · Filed by Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Jan 12, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill amends the tax code to exempt multiemployer pension plans (plans covering workers across multiple employers, typically in unionized industries) from federal automatic enrollment requirements that apply to most retirement plans. Workers in these plans would no longer be automatically enrolled in retirement savings unless their specific plan chooses to do so.
Why we flagged it
The bill functionally removes a consumer-protection mandate (automatic enrollment) from a specific class of retirement plans. While framed as technical relief, it reduces default retirement savings participation for millions of workers.
What the text implies
- Multiemployer plans cover approximately 10 million workers, primarily in unionized trades and transportation; exemption may disproportionately affect lower-wage workers less likely to self-direct retirement savings.
- Automatic enrollment has been shown to increase participation rates by 20–30 percentage points; removal of this default may significantly reduce retirement savings accumulation in affected plans.
- The exemption applies retroactively to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2024, potentially affecting plan compliance and worker enrollment decisions already in motion.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Automatic enrollment significantly increases retirement savings participation, especially among lower-income and less-engaged workers. Exempting multiemployer plans removes this protection for millions of workers in construction, transportation, hospitality, and other unionized sectors, likely reducing retirement security for workers who may lack financial sophistication or resources to opt in independently.
Who stands to gain
- multiemployer pension plan sponsors and administrators (reduced compliance and administrative burden
- employers participating in multiemployer plans (lower pressure to facilitate retirement savings)
Named in the bill
Internal Revenue Code Section 414(c)(3), Internal Revenue Code Section 414(d) (governmental plans), Internal Revenue Code Section 414(e) (church plans), Internal Revenue Code Section 414(f) (multiemployer plans), multiemployer pension plans
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.
- Jan 12, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Jan 12, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Finance · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance”
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.
Amy Klobuchar, the sponsor, reported $116,500 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.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (697 characters) on Sep 23, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,707 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-09-23.
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