The American Council of Life Insurers and nine other business and financial groups have formed a new coalition seeking to block the state of Oregon’s efforts to create a state-managed retirement savings plan for people who do not have access to a pension, 401(k) or Individual Retirement Account through their employer.

Introduced last month, this proposal would create a seven-member Oregon Retirement Savings Board that would be responsible for creating a retirement plan.

The final product must include a minimum automatic payroll deduction, which employees can change or cancel if they so choose; give employees an opportunity to automatically increase the size of this deduction year after year; and present no financial liability to the individual employers or the state government.

Senate Majority Leader Diane Rosenbaum, D-Portland, state Sen. Lee Beyer, D-Springfield, and state Sen. Arnie Roblan, D-Coos Bay, are proposing this legislation in the Oregon Senate, while state Reps. Jennifer Williamson, D-Portland, and Tobias Read, D-Beaverton, are proposing it in the Oregon House of Representatives.

Both bills — SB 615 and HB 2960 — were discussed during a pair of public committee hearings held earlier this moth but have not moved any farther along in the legislative process, according to the Oregon Legislature’s website.

According to a press release, the coalition’s members include Associated Oregon Industries, Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of Oregon, the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, the National Federation of Independent Business, the Oregon Dairy Farmers Association, the Oregon Seed Council, the Pacific Northwest Hardware and Implement Association, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association and Standard Insurance Co.

The coalition opposes the legislation because they worry it could force the state’s employers to follow the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act and subject them to the fiscal liabilities contained in this law. They also think the state should encourage employers to take part in the private retirement savings plan marketplace — where they have access to plans like Simple Employee Pensions, SIMPLE 401(k(s and SIMPLE IRAs — on a voluntary basis instead of forcing them to take part in a government-managed plan.