republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2026/sb-149.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "State-facilitated IRA savings program; various changes to the program."
description: "State-facilitated IRA savings program. Makes various changes to the state-facilitated IRA savings program administered by the Commonwealth Savers Plan. For purposes of defining an eligible employer, the bill (i) reduces the minimum number of eligible employees an organization must have in its employ from 25 to five for the period ending December 31 of the preceding calendar year prior to the program's open enrollment period for that calendar year and (ii) clarifies that such term does not include employers offering and sponsoring a qualified retirement plan, including 401(k) plans. The bill also removes the requirement that an eligible employee, for purposes of the program, works at least 30 hours a week and adds the requirement that participating individuals enrolling in the program independent of an employment relationship with an eligible employer be at least 18 years of age. The bill also expands the powers and duties of the governing board of the Commonwealth Savers Plan to include (a) procedures for reenrollment of participating employees and participating individuals; (b) allowing program participants to invest in a lifetime income option; (c) establishing the resources, tools, and incentives to promote greater financial education and literacy; (d) procedures for receiving and crediting federal matching contributions to an IRA or qualified retirement savings account; and (e) exploring and establishing incentives that encourage participation by eligible employers and eligible employees, including initiatives that incentivize compliance or that defray any costs incurred by an eligible employer to facilitate participation.The bill also requires eligible employers that withhold a program contribution from a participating employee's wages to remit such contribution not later than 10 business days following the date upon which such withholding was made and notes that eligible employers who fail to submit contributions to the program may be in violation of law and incur penalties. This bill is identical to HB 176."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "SB 149"
citation: "Virginia SB 149 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Jeremy S. McPike"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 28
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2026-01-07"
last_action: "2026-04-06"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/40040edc-2ffb-4903-ad54-61a0a5c78c53"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/SB149"
source_hash: "28326333a988431f83df67457d13fc9f49dc7aa9472a08b93d434b1ebe5c4915"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia SB 149 (2026) — State-facilitated IRA savings program; various changes to the program.

State-facilitated IRA savings program. Makes various changes to the state-facilitated IRA savings program administered by the Commonwealth Savers Plan. For purposes of defining an eligible employer, the bill (i) reduces the minimum number of eligible employees an organization must have in its employ from 25 to five for the period ending December 31 of the preceding calendar year prior to the program's open enrollment period for that calendar year and (ii) clarifies that such term does not include employers offering and sponsoring a qualified retirement plan, including 401(k) plans. The bill also removes the requirement that an eligible employee, for purposes of the program, works at least 30 hours a week and adds the requirement that participating individuals enrolling in the program independent of an employment relationship with an eligible employer be at least 18 years of age. The bill also expands the powers and duties of the governing board of the Commonwealth Savers Plan to include (a) procedures for reenrollment of participating employees and participating individuals; (b) allowing program participants to invest in a lifetime income option; (c) establishing the resources, tools, and incentives to promote greater financial education and literacy; (d) procedures for receiving and crediting federal matching contributions to an IRA or qualified retirement savings account; and (e) exploring and establishing incentives that encourage participation by eligible employers and eligible employees, including initiatives that incentivize compliance or that defray any costs incurred by an eligible employer to facilitate participation.The bill also requires eligible employers that withhold a program contribution from a participating employee's wages to remit such contribution not later than 10 business days following the date upon which such withholding was made and notes that eligible employers who fail to submit contributions to the program may be in violation of law and incur penalties. This bill is identical to HB 176.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1083507.PDF)
2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216210.PDF)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1181472.PDF)

## Votes

- Reported from Appropriations — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- H VOTE: — **97–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Finance and Appropriations — **13–0** (pass) · upper
- Passage R — **40–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Jeremy S. McPike — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2026-01-07** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26101585D `filing, introduction`
- **2026-01-07** Referred to Committee on Finance and Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-16** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB149)
- **2026-01-28** Reported from Finance and Appropriations (13-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-01-29** Rules suspended
- **2026-01-29** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-01-29** Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)
- **2026-01-29** Passed by for the day
- **2026-01-30** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-01-30** Engrossed by Senate (Voice Vote)
- **2026-02-02** Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-05** Placed on Calendar
- **2026-02-05** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-05** Referred to Committee on Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-18** Assigned HAPP sub: General Government and Capital Outlay `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-20** Reported from Appropriations (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-24** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-25** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-02-25** Passed House (97-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-02-27** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-02-27** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB149ER) `passage`
- **2026-02-27** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB149)
- **2026-02-27** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-02-27** Signed by President `passage`
- **2026-03-10** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-10** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-06** Approved by Governor-Chapter 85 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-06** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0085)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/40040edc-2ffb-4903-ad54-61a0a5c78c53`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).