Philly Approves Auto-IRA Bill, While Alaska Vetoes Similar Measure

The trajectories of two bills that would create government-facilitated retirement savings programs on opposite ends of North America diverged in the year’s second quarter.

Philadelphia residents voted in May to create a board to oversee a new automatic individual retirement account program, the nation’s first city auto-IRA. Some 3,750 miles away, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy vetoed in June a bill that would have created an auto-IRA for Alaskan workers, citing the administrative burden the program would impose upon employers. The Alaska State Legislature then came up one vote short of overriding Dunleavy’s veto in a combined vote.

Philadelphia Bill Advances

In January, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker signed a bill that established the Philadelphia Retirement Savings Program—better known as PhillySaves—which will automatically enroll workers who do not have access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan into a city-sponsored IRA. Employers will be required to enroll eligible employees into the program and facilitate payroll deductions, but will not be required to fund employee retirement contributions.

However, the legislation required a separate ballot measure for voters to approve the creation of the program. On May 19, more than three-quarters of Philadelphia voters (78.4%) approved a measure establishing the Philadelphia Retirement Savings Board, clearly surpassing the simple majority vote required to proceed.

The approval made Philadelphia the third U.S. city to authorize such a program. Seattle and New York approved auto-IRA programs but did not implement them after state programs launched.

As of June 1, 2026, 22 state-facilitated retirement saving programs have been enacted. Of the 22 programs, 17 are active, holding $3.26 billion in retirement savings.

Philadelphia-based businesses or nonprofits that have been in operation for at least two years and do not offer a 401(k), pension or other type of retirement plan, will be required to enroll their workers in PhillySaves. Enrolled employees will default to having between 3% and 6% of their wages automatically deferred from their paychecks into either a traditional or Roth individual retirement account, though they may opt out. The program is scheduled to be operational by July 1, 2027.

Alaska Bill Stalls

One day before Philadelphia voters overwhelmingly approved PhillySaves, the Alaska House of Representatives had passed, by a 31-to-9 vote, a measure to create the state auto-IRA program Alaska Work and Save. The bill had already passed in the Senate by a 15-to-4 vote, with one excused absence. But on June 19, Dunleavy vetoed the bill, citing the burden the program would place upon employers.

Under Alaska Work and Save, private sector employees without access to an employer-sponsored plan would be enrolled, with contributions to their retirement accounts deducted from each paycheck. Employees would retain the right to opt out of the program at any time.

“Although employees may opt out, the bill relies on automatic enrollment and places employers in the middle of a state-run investment program,” Dunleavy wrote in a letter to Alaska Senate President Gary Stevens explaining the veto. “Alaska businesses should not be required to administer or facilitate retirement savings accounts created by the state when private retirement and investment options are already available.”

Alaska State Senator Cathy Giessel on June 19 moved to pass the bill over Dunleavy’s veto. The combined legislature voted 39 to 21 to override the veto, one vote short of the two-thirds majority required to override. Of representatives who voted for the bill initially, seven declined to override the governor’s veto.