Passage of Colorado’s Secure Savings Plan is the Right Move to Help Small Businesses Recover and Compete in the Future

Denver, Colorado — Today, Hunter Railey, Colorado Director at Small Business Majority issued the following statement after the Colorado Legislature passed SB20-200, which would establish the Colorado Secure Savings Program, a state-facilitated retirement program for private-sector employees.

“Long before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Colorado suffered from a retirement savings gap. More than 40% of Colorado’s workforce does not have a retirement savings plan offered through their place of work and lagging retirement savings are expected to cost the state $10 billion dollars over the next 15 years. Now the pandemic has demonstrated just how vulnerable small businesses and their employees are to changing economic conditions. 

Colorado’s retirement gap mirrors what we have seen nationally. Our scientific opinion polling found that just 19% of small employers are able to offer a retirement plan, despite many wanting to do so. In the wake of the pandemic, we expect that these numbers could shrink further. The need to promote financial stability for business owners and their employees alike has never been more important. 

Today’s passage of the Secure Savings Program is a critical step toward achieving that goal. As small businesses begin to reopen and look to recover from this crisis, they will need a variety of tools at their disposal to attract new employees and better support those that are already employed. Secure Savings will operate as a public-private partnership allowing employees to contribute to an individual retirement savings account through modest payroll deductions. This will help small employers offer valuable benefits to their employees without the administrative or cost burdens associated with employer-run plans.

Over the last three months, we have learned the hard lesson that a lack of support for small businesses hurts our economy. Had Secure Savings been law in Colorado before COVID-19, small businesses would have been eligible for additional stimulus assistance through the Paycheck Protection Program, making them more appealing to lenders in the face of a crisis when time is of the essence. While we cannot go back and rewrite history, Small Business Majority is proud to see that the Colorado Legislature has recognized this gap and taken action that will better serve small employers during recovery and in the years that follow. With this plan in place, Colorado’s economy will be better off.” 

The Colorado Secure Savings Program is five legislative sessions in the making. The coalition working to advance the program, the Secure Our Savings, is co-chaired by Small Business Majority Outreach Manager Lindsey Vigoda. Lindsey and her partners have been instrumental in providing feedback and managing negotiations for many stakeholders. In addition to its work in Colorado, Small Business Majority has advanced state-sponsored retirement programs for the private sector in California, Illinois, Maryland, and Connecticut.