Boosting Savings Plans on Legislative Agenda

More than half of Arkansas’ private-sector workers lack access to an employer-sponsored retirement savings plan, putting them at risk of financial insecurity.

That’s why AARP Arkansas plans to advocate during the 2025 legislative session for Arkansas Saves, a work-and-save program similar to those adopted in other states. AARP will also study legislation it hopes to put forward in future sessions to give unpaid family caregivers a tax credit to help offset caregiving expenses they incur.

Work-and-save programs allow workers to put money into a retirement account via payroll deductions. There are no fees for employers. For employees, the plans are portable if they change jobs; employees can decide if they want to participate and how much they want to put away.

Arkansas Saves would allow individuals “to have some money in retirement in addition to Social Security,” says Chris McCoy, associate state director for advocacy and outreach for AARP Arkansas. Some 29 percent of Arkansans 65 and older depend on Social Security for at least 90 percent of their income, according to data analyzed by AARP.

As for the family caregiver tax credit, McCoy says it’s intended to “put money directly back in the pockets” of the state’s 420,000 unpaid caregivers. Those caregivers incur out-of-pocket costs on everything from medical equipment, to home modifications, to nursing care.

Similar proposals passed in Oklahoma and Nebraska and are being pushed in other states. They give caregivers a credit on state taxes to defray a portion of eligible expenses. AARP Arkansas is still studying the specifics of any tax credit proposal.

To get involved in supporting these policies, go to aarp.org/arsaves and aarp.org/arcares, or contact McCoy at cmmccoy@aarp.org.

— Stacey Shepard