CITY OF SEATTLE
ORDINANCE __________________
COUNCIL BILL __________________
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AN ORDINANCE relating to employment in Seattle; adding a new Chapter 14.36 to the Seattle Municipal Code; and establishing a retirement-savings program for certain employees working in Seattle.
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WHEREAS, an expanding population of workers in Seattle, as elsewhere in the United States, are failing to save adequately for their retirement; and
WHEREAS, although Social Security does provide some basic retirement income, it is insufficient to meet living costs during retirement and must be complemented by other sources of retirement savings, and a 2013 survey by AARP, titled "Not Making the Grade," found that 24 percent of Washingtonians aged 45 to 64 had less than $25,000 in savings and that 81 percent wished they had saved more for their retirement; and
WHEREAS, the growing issue of retirement security is partially due to diminishing access of many employees to workplace retirement savings plans, in addition to the challenges of wage stagnation and increased living costs facing low and middle-income workers; and
WHEREAS, a 2016 Pew Charitable Trusts study conducted for The City of Seattle found that 40 percent of employees in the Seattle metropolitan area do not have access to a workplace retirement savings plan; and
WHEREAS, the aforementioned 2016 Pew Charitable Trusts study found that people of color and employees of small businesses in the Seattle metropolitan area are particularly disadvantaged in terms of access to retirement plans; and
WHEREAS, it is well established that individuals are far more likely to save for retirement if an option is made available to them in their workplace, especially if they are automatically enrolled into a retirement savings plan; and
WHEREAS, by providing an efficient and cost-effective way to save for retirement, the Seattle Retirement Savings Plan would provide workers the opportunity to improve their own retirement security and reduce ineq...
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