State Representative Ann-Margaret Ferrante (D-Gloucester) announced today that the Massachusetts House of Representatives has adopted two pieces of legislation she filed to expand retirement savings options for nonprofit and public service workers.
Working in collaboration with Treasurer Deborah Goldberg throughout the past several legislative sessions, Ferrante has filed An Act expanding access to retirement savings and An Act relative to the SMART Plan in the House of Representatives. The legislation, which was included in the fiscal year 2026 House budget, will strengthen retirement security for thousands of workers across the Commonwealth.
“Nonprofit and public service workers dedicate their careers to strengthening our communities. It is critical that they are given the tools necessary to prepare for retirement,” said Ferrante. “I am glad that legislation for automatic enrollment in the SMART Plan was included in the House Ways and Means budget recommendation and thankful that my amendment to expand the CORE Program was adopted in the final House budget.”
“Thank you to Representative Ferrante for helping to expand retirement savings. This legislation will help nonprofit and public service employees build a more secure financial future,” said State Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg. “SMART and CORE offer tools to take control of one’s finances and begin planning ahead. I look forward to working with the Representative to ensure that people can retire with confidence.”
An Act relative to the SMART Plan brings public sector retirement offerings in line with the private sector by allowing the Treasurer to automatically enroll new state employees into the SMART Plan, the Commonwealth’s defined contribution 457 plan. An Act expanding access to retirement savings expands access to the CORE Plan by raising the eligibility cap, making it available to nonprofits with up to 100 employees, up from the previous limit of 20 employees.
Automatic enrollment has been shown to dramatically increase participation and savings rates, helping employees build stronger financial futures. While private sector employees are increasingly enrolled automatically into retirement savings programs under federal SECURE 2.0 requirements, Massachusetts public employees — who do not participate in Social Security and face a ten-year vesting period for their pension benefits — must currently opt-in manually. Under the new legislation, new employees would receive a notice of their pending enrollment date and would be able to opt-out and receive a refund within 90 days, if applicable. Employees would also have the flexibility to change their contribution rate, opt-out, or stop their contributions at any time.
Expansion of the CORE Plan will open retirement savings access to a broader segment of the nonprofit sector, a field that employs more workers than the manufacturing and financial sectors combined in Massachusetts. Since its launch in 2017, the CORE Plan has helped over 2,400 employees begin saving for retirement, with 83 percent of them having had no prior retirement benefits before joining the plan. Increasing the eligibility threshold from 20 to 100 employees will allow many more small nonprofits to offer this critical benefit to their staff.
Representative Ferrante commended Treasurer Goldberg, Speaker Ron Mariano, and House Ways and Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz for acknowledging the importance of retirement investment. “Together, we are ensuring that workers who give so much to our Commonwealth have the tools they need to retire with dignity and stability,” she said.
Having passed the House of Representatives, the budget will now go before the Senate.