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Read. Follow. Verify.Indiana creates state-administered retirement savings program with automatic employee enrollment
Last action · December 11, 2025: Senator Ford J.D. added as coauthorSponsors: Vaneta Becker and 6 others
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What This Bill Proposed
Indiana establishes the Hoosier Crossroads Retirement Program, requiring certain private-sector employers that do not offer a qualified retirement plan to automatically enroll employees with a default 5% contribution level starting after December 31, 2027. The measure sets up a nine-member governing board within the office of the treasurer of state, limits total annual fees to 1% during the first three years, and makes an .
Private-sector employees working for qualifying businesses without an existing retirement plan face mandatory automatic enrollment in a state-backed individual retirement account unless they opt out, while employers meeting specific criteria must comply with payroll deductions and program rules or face administrative fines.
- State-facilitated retirement programs for private-sector employees have been adopted in multiple states to expand retirement coverage for workers whose employers do not sponsor traditional plans. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
private sector employees
Eligible employees working for covered employers are automatically enrolled in the retirement program with a default 5% wage contribution, subject to the right to opt out or change contribution levels.
employers
Qualifying employers must comply with program requirements, withhold employee contributions from wages, and remit them to the program administrator within fourteen days.
Hoosier crossroads retirement board
Board members and staff are tasked with designing, implementing, administering, and overseeing the retirement program and fund as fiduciaries.
Key Facts
- Establishes the Hoosier Crossroads Retirement Program, a defined contribution automatic enrollment payroll deduction IRA managed by a newly created board within the office of the treasurer of state.
- Applies to employers that have employed at least five employees during the previous calendar year, have been in business for at least one year, and have not offered a qualified retirement plan in the previous two calendar years.
- Automatically enrolls eligible employees at a default contribution level of 5% of wages, allowing employees to opt out or choose a different contribution level.
- Sets employee eligibility to begin after December 31, 2027, for Indiana residents employed by a covered employer.
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- Caps total annual program fees at 1% of the total value of assets for the first three years of operation while the board conducts a study to determine a permanent flat fee rate.
- Establishes the Hoosier Crossroads Retirement Fund, which receives appropriations, fees, penalties, gifts, and grants, with unexpended money not reverting to the state general fund at the end of the fiscal year.
- Prohibits the state, state agencies, and participating employers from assuming financial liability for retirement benefits, investment losses, or program performance.
- Authorizes the board to establish noncompliance fines for employers not to exceed an aggregate of $5,000 in a calendar year per eligible employee, with enforcement beginning no earlier than one year after program establishment and three months after a notice of noncompliance.
- Requires the board to submit an annual report detailing enrollment statistics, average savings, administrative costs, and an audited financial report to the governor and general assembly by July 1 of each year.
- Provides an effective date of July 1, 2026, for the establishment of the article and board.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which employers are required to comply with the retirement program?
Can employees opt out of the program or change their contribution amount?
Are participating employers financially liable for investment performance or benefits?
What else do you want to know?
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in Senate committee.
Procedural history
5 actions- Dec 11, 2025SenateSenator Ford J.D. added as coauthor
- Dec 11, 2025SenateSenators Crider, Charbonneau added as coauthors
- Dec 8, 2025SenateSenator Hunley added as coauthor
- Dec 8, 2025SenateIntroducedFirst reading: referred to Committee on Appropriations
- Dec 8, 2025SenateAuthored by Senators Becker, Glick, Leising
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
State-Facilitated Private Retirement Mandate
The establishment of the Hoosier Crossroads Retirement Program marks a significant shift by introducing automatic retirement savings enrollment for private-sector workers through a state-level instrumentality.
Connected Entities
Sources
iga.in.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 80)
- Controversy65Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz45Current news / social attention level
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