Regulatory and Legislative

House Passes Next Coronavirus Relief Bill

FuturePlan ERISA Team May 18 2020

The House of Representatives late Friday passed H.R. 6800, the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act, providing additional aid to many who are adversely affected by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The bill also contained non-COVID-19-related provisions considered likely to prove controversial in the Senate.

Unlike the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act—both of which moved fairly rapidly through Congress—the HEROES Act has been called “dead on arrival” by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who—with Republican colleagues—envisions a much less comprehensive bill. Sen. McConnell has also expressed a desire to move slowly and gauge the effectiveness of earlier relief. Most expect no additional COVID-19-related legislation to be enacted before sometime in June.

As announced last week, the House bill contains provisions for the following.

  • Continued financial assistance to unemployed workers
  • Financial assistance to state, local, tribal, and territorial government entities
  • Waiver of 2019 required minimum distributions (RMDs)
  • Waiver of the 60-day and one-rollover-per-12-month rules for otherwise-required RMDs waived for 2019 and 2020
  • Amendments to the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act
  • Relief for participants in health flexible spending arrangements (FSAs)
  • Codifying the ability of employers to deduct certain expenses covered by loans that are forgiven under the SBA Paycheck Protection Program
  • Providing money purchase pension plans the early distribution and loan relief that the CARES Act provided to other qualified retirement plans
  • A new retirement “composite plan,” with features that include those of 401(k) and defined benefit (DB) pension plan
  • Relief for multiemployer (collectively-bargained) DB pension plans
  • Amortization relief for single employer DB pension plans
  • Further funding relief (beyond that provided by the SECURE Act) to certain community newspaper DB plans
  • Aid to certain federal agencies affected by the pandemic, including the Departments of Homeland Security, Interior, Health and Human Services, Labor, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Education
  • Enhanced Medicare and Medicaid benefits
  • Medical supply chain enhancement
  • Testing and reporting enhancement
  • National strategic stockpile for pandemic response
  • Bankruptcy protections for homeowners
  • Certain student loan relief and protections
  • Additional aid to veterans during the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Federal election early and by-mail voting procedure
COVID-19 Defined Benefit Plan Defined Contribution Plan IRA Legislative updates

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