New America Foundation Praises New, Universal, Portable Retirement Savings Proposal

Today, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Assembly Member Kevin De Leon (D-Los Angeles) unveiled a proposal to give California workers access to a low-cost, professionally managed retirement account.

“We applaud Governor Schwarzenegger and Assembly Member De Leon’s bipartisan leadership” said Olivia Calderon, California Legislative Director of New America’s Asset Building Program. “Too many hardworking Californians don’t have access to a work based retirement savings plan. This is an incredible opportunity for California to show the rest of the nation how to use existing tools to help workers build their savings for retirement and other family needs so that they can retire with financial security.”

Advised by New America's Asset Building Program, Assembly Member Kevin De Leon (D-Los Angeles), introduced AB 2940 to establish the California Employees Savings Program. CalESP will provide voluntary and portable retirement savings accounts that workers can freely take with them from job to job.

Currently, approximately 6 million California workers, roughly 43 percent of the state’s workforce, go to work at a job that does not offer them a pension or a retirement savings plan to supplement Social Security. Many of these individuals are spending more than they are saving and relying more on credit, thereby risking their financial future. This lack of retirement savings puts California families at risk.

New America’s Asset Building Program has long called for the creation of a portable retirement account that will enable all workers the opportunity to build wealth and achieve financial security.

About the California Asset Building Program
The purpose of New America's Asset Building Program, established in 2002, is to significantly broaden savings and assets ownership in America, thereby providing all Americans both with the means to get ahead and with a direct stake in the overall success of our economy. This major, new direction in public policy promises to be as successful in the 21st century as the Homestead Act and GI Bill were in previous centuries. The Program also established a Global Assets Project to promote asset-building policies worldwide. For more information, please visit the California Asset Building Program website at www.newamerica.net/california

Contact: Olivia Calderon (916) 448-5189, Mark Paul (916) 448-3721

Learn More About: Mark Paul, Olivia Calderon
Related Programs: New America in California, Asset Building Program, California Asset Building
Topics: Ownership & Assets