Prior to the Great Recession of 2008-09, the State of Delaware previously offered an employer match for state employee contributions to the deferred compensation program. The purpose of the match was to help state employees save and build wealth for retirement and to enable state government to recruit and retain talent by offering a valuable retirement savings benefit.
However, during the Great Recession, the State suspended the employer match to cut costs. Every year since fiscal year 2008, the General Assembly has written in the annual appropriations bill: “It is the intent of the General Assembly that this program be reinstated when funding becomes available.” However, even in years where significant funding was available, the General Assembly did not live up to its word.
Senate Bill 94 updates the laws governing the employer match in anticipation of the General Assembly restoring the match this session in the Budget and increases the maximum match to $20 per pay period. This bill also eases restrictions on which participants are eligible for the match. To help employees who are unable to save for retirement because of their student loan burden, this bill enables a match for employee’s student loan payments with employer contributions to their deferred compensation account.
Congress enabled employers to make this type of matching contribution with the passage of the SECURE 2.0 Act, which was included in the Federal Fiscal Year 2023 Omnibus Appropriations Bill. This bill provides the Plans Management Board with the discretion to determine which plan the matching contributions should be deposited into.
| SENATE BILL 94 – EMPLOYEE CONTRIBUTIONS IN THE DEFERRED COMPENSATION PROGRAM | Currrent Status – Senate Finance 5/17/23 |
| House Sponsors – Longhurst, Baumbach, Bush, Griffith, Harris, Heffernan, Lynn, Minor-Brown, Osienski // Briggs King, Hilovsky | Senate Sponsors – Paradee, Brown, Gay, Hansen, Hoffner, Huxtable, Mantzavinos, Sokola |
| House Yes Votes – | Senate Yes Votes – |
| House No Votes – | Senate No Votes – |
| House Absents or Not Voting – | Senate Absent or Not Voting – |
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