Committee hears wide array of retirement and pension bills, from SMART Plan auto-enroll to pension reporting and divestment proposals

Lawmakers and retirement-system officials used a Joint Committee on Public Service hearing to present several separate bills aimed at changing retirement benefits, employer rules, reporting and investment policies for state and municipal employees.

Supporters of automatic enrollment testified in favor of expanding the SMART Plan, the state's low-cost deferred compensation program. Senator Lovely, testifying remotely, described the SMART Plan as a "high quality low cost retirement savings program available to Massachusetts state and municipal employees" and said auto-enrollment with an opt-out would improve retirement outcomes. Edward Boynton, a Braintree middle-school teacher and president of his local MTA chapter, urged support for House Bill 39, calling automatic enrollment a way to protect educators from high-fee private supplemental plans.

Several agency witnesses…