Retirement bills unlikely before late 2027, Principal policy chief says

Retirement policy legislation is unlikely to advance before late 2027 under the incoming Democratic-led Congress, said Lance Schoening, Principal's director of policy and government relations.

Schoening spoke Monday at the 2026 PLANADVISER 360 Conference in Orlando, Florida. He said he has not seen Democratic leaders prioritize retirement policy, and that formal development of legislation may not come until 2028. "Affordability, health insurance—that's where I think a lot of the floor time is going to be spent," he said.

For plan sponsors weighing collective investment trusts in a 403(b) menu, the near-term window is the lame-duck session. A standalone bill to let 403(b) plans invest through CITs went before the House Rules Committee on Monday, an indication House leaders may be planning a floor vote soon, PLANADVISER reported. Schoening said the CIT measure gets harder to move under new congressional leadership that has called for stricter CIT regulation.

The main vehicle is the Incentivizing New Ventures and Economic Strength Through Capital Formation Act, which passed the House in December 2025 and has not advanced in the Senate. It includes a measure that would expand the use of CITs in 403(b) plans. "The Senate has been the blocking point, but only because of limited floor time," Schoening said. "Hope that we can get this across the finish line, because the prospects don't look good next year."

Schoening named Representative Maxine Waters, D-California, as a likely next chair of the House Financial Services Committee. "It's going to be much more difficult to move that from here," he said.

Managers pushing private credit into 401(k) plans face a Labor Department rule still in proposal form.

On Schoening's timeline, sponsors setting 2027 menu changes would do so without new 403(b) rules, and if Waters takes the gavel, the CIT question would land at her committee.