The Alaska Senate voted Tuesday to establish the Alaska Work and Save Program, a first-in-Alaska automatic retirement savings plan for workers whose employers do not offer retirement benefits.

Senate Bill 21 passed 15-4 after more than a year of committee work that reshaped the bill to address business concerns. The program creates individual retirement accounts for employees at businesses with five or more workers that have been operating for at least three years and do not already offer retirement plans. Employees may opt out at any time.

Senator Bill Wielechowski presented the bill to the Senate Finance Committee in February, according to the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries. The bill had previously cleared the Labor and Commerce Committee in April 2025.

"Over half of American households have no retirement savings at all, and over 20 percent of Alaska's population is retirement age or older," Wielechowski said. "The IRS has reported that the average monthly Social Security payment for 2026 is around $2,000, yet the average cost of living in Alaska exceeds $5,000 per month."

Wielechowski said the percentage of Alaska seniors living below the poverty level nearly doubled between 2010 and 2021. One in 10 Alaskan seniors now lives below the poverty level. "The number of seniors receiving SNAP benefits has doubled right along with that," he said. "Over 100,000 Alaskans work for small businesses, yet 64 percent of small businesses don't offer any retirement at all."

The bill also allows workers to set aside a portion of their Permanent Fund Dividend in a tax-advantaged account, Wielechowski said. He cited low participation rates in opt-in programs to explain the rationale for automatic enrollment. "In New Mexico's Work and Save program, they had an opt-in. It never reached financial feasibility," Wielechowski said. "Massachusetts, which has an optional program, has only a 5 percent participation rate because it's opt-in. Washington has an optional marketplace program that's estimated to only have 2.5 percent participation."

The bill removes all penalties on businesses and exempts companies with fewer than five employees or less than three years in operation. "We've removed all the penalties and fines," Wielechowski said.

Senator Robert Myers said he remained conflicted about the bill despite supporting portable benefits. "I've been conflicted about this bill the last few days as I saw it coming to the floor," Myers said. "It is a form of portable benefits, which I think is good, which is spreading throughout the country as something absolutely necessary. But I've also been a little concerned. We've got a mandate for business in here."

Myers said the Alaska Chamber opposes the employer mandate. He voted against the bill.