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SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Connecticut Retirement Security Program Advances

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Tuesday, January 23, 2018   

HARTFORD, Conn. – Connecticut has taken an important step toward implementing its retirement security plan. The authority overseeing the payroll savings plan is searching for an executive director to establish and manage the plan.

Created by the Legislature in 2016, the program will let those who work for businesses with five or more employees but no retirement plan save for retirement through payroll deductions.

According to John Erlingheuser, director of advocacy and outreach for AARP Connecticut, the program is on track to begin operations soon.

"Hopefully by the end of 2018, individuals who have no way to save for retirement at work will be able to start doing that, and there are about 600,000 people like that in Connecticut," he says.

Workers will be enrolled in the plan automatically but they can opt out, and it will not rely on contributions from either employers or the state.

Erlingheuser points out that by 2032, the state could save more than $90 million in social service costs if low-income retires save enough to increase their retirement income by just $1,000 a year. He says payroll savings plans are the surest way to help them save.

"People are 15 times more likely to save for retirement if they can do it at work through a payroll deduction than if they had to go and open up an IRA account at the bank," he explains.

According to data from The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, there is a $7 trillion retirement savings deficit among older Americans.

Erlingheuser notes that Oregon recently launched a retirement security plan almost identical to Connecticut's.

"Since August of 2017, they've already got half-a-million dollars saved from individual accounts so we're really excited about not only replicating but hopefully improving upon the work that they're doing in the state of Oregon," he adds.


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