密歇根新闻广播 美国多处面临退休储蓄金赤字

American workers are facing an enormous retirement¹ savings² deficit³. In Michigan, nearly 1.7 million workers have jobs where the employer does not offer a retirement savings plan.

In response to this shortfall, two Democrats⁴ in Lansing introduced legislation that would set up an alternative statewide retirement savings plan for employees of businesses who do not have a plan of their own.

The program would not be mandatory⁵; workers who did not want to participate could opt⁶ out. Other states, including California, Maryland, and Washington have passed similar legislation.

Now, these types of "auto-IRA" retirement savings programs face a challenge from an unlikely foe⁷: Michigan Republican Rep. Tim Walberg, R-7.

Earlier this month, Walberg put forward a resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives to rescind⁸ Obama-era Labor⁹ Department rules allowing states to create such programs. 

Walberg said the action was meant to protect people saving for retirement by closing a "regulatory loophole that would be detrimental¹⁰ to the retirement security of hardworking Americans."

Stateside reached out to Rep. Walberg, but his office declined our request for an interview.

Those same concerns have not been raised by retiree advocacy organizations such as the AARP, which has voiced support for state-run retirement savings programs.

David Sirota, investigations¹¹ editor at the International Business Times, thinks there may be a different motivation behind Walberg's resolution.

"The private financial industry has lobbied against these plans in states across the country, in part because the financial industry could potentially lose business or face more competition for its services from these public option, publicly-administered plans," Sirota said. "Congressman¹² Walberg has gotten a significant amount of campaign contributions from the financial industry."

In his report on Walberg's resolution, Sirota found that the insurance and investment industries have contributed more than half a million dollars to Walberg's political campaigns during the course of his career.

State Rep. Scott Dianda?, D-Calumet, is one of the co-sponsors of the proposed legislation in Michigan. He believes the federal government should not prevent states from creating their own retirement savings programs.

"It's sad to see that we have a U.S. Congressman that would want to block to have the state's right to operate any type of a program to make our residents be in a better spot for retirement, to be able to encourage people to save money," Dianda said. "So I find it kind of bad that Congressman Walberg would want to hinder our state's right under the Constitution."

Meanwhile, Walberg's resolution was passed in the U.S. House of Representatives and is awaiting a vote in the Senate.

Hear our full interviews with Rep. Scott Dianda and David Sirota, investigations editor of the International Business Times at the top of the page.

1 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

2 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

3 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

4 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

6 opt   

vi.选择，决定做某事

参考例句：

• They opt for more holiday instead of more pay.他们选择了延长假期而不是增加工资。
• Will individual schools be given the right to opt out of the local school authority?各个学校可能有权选择退出地方教育局吗？

7 foe   

n.敌人，仇敌

参考例句：

• He knew that Karl could be an implacable foe.他明白卡尔可能会成为他的死敌。
• A friend is a friend;a foe is a foe;one must be clearly distinguished from the other.敌是敌，友是友，必须分清界限。

8 rescind   

v.废除，取消

参考例句：

• They accepted his advice and rescinded the original plan.他们听从了他的劝告，撤销了原计划。
• Trade Union leaders have demanded the government rescind the price rise.工会领导已经要求政府阻止价格上涨。

9 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

10 detrimental   

adj.损害的，造成伤害的

参考例句：

• We know that heat treatment is detrimental to milk.我们知道加热对牛奶是不利的。
• He wouldn't accept that smoking was detrimental to health.他不相信吸烟有害健康。

11 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

12 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。