Our bill would also provide incentives for experienced workers who spend at least 20 percent of their time passing their hard-earned knowledge on to the next generation. These workers would be allowed to receive some retirement income early, without facing tax penalties.
Support incentives for experienced workers to teach apprentices and allow them to receive some retirement income early without tax penalties.
Occurrences
Evidence
Sen. Collins said the bill "provides incentives for experienced workers who spend at least 20 percent of their time passing their hard-earned knowledge on to the next generation" and that "[t]hese workers would be allowed to receive some retirement income early, without facing tax penalties."
Collins and Cantwell reintroduced the Apprenticeship and Jobs Training Act as S. 959, again stating that the bill "provides incentives for experienced workers" and that they "would be allowed to receive some retirement income early, without facing tax penalties."
GovInfo lists S. 1352 as introduced on June 14, 2017 and "read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance"; the record shows sponsorship by Maria Cantwell with Susan M. Collins as cosponsor.
An amendment submitted with Susan Collins as a cosponsor proposed two core ideas from the pledge: allowing older employees who serve as mentors to take early retirement-plan distributions while still working part time, and defining mentors as workers age 55 or older who train employees or students in their area of expertise. The amendment was only proposed in the Senate; it was not enacted.
In the 118th Congress, Amy Klobuchar introduced S. 83 with Susan Collins as a cosponsor. The bill would help states cover pre-apprenticeships or related instruction connected to qualified apprenticeship programs. GovInfo shows the bill was introduced and referred to committee, with no enacted law shown.
Assessments
Collins publicly endorsed the exact apprenticeship-and-early-retirement-tax-penalty idea in 2014, then backed related Senate language and cosponsored/reintroduced bills in 2015 and later Congresses. But the evidence shows proposals, amendments, and committee referral only; no enacted law or delivered policy outcome. That is a serious legislative effort that ultimately failed, so the promise was not fulfilled.
Collins materially supported the promised policy by introducing or cosponsoring Apprenticeship and Jobs Training Act proposals that included incentives for experienced workers to teach apprentices and penalty-free early retirement income access. However, the cited federal bill records show introduction and committee referral, not enactment, and there is no evidence in the payload that the promised tax-policy outcome became law during the 2015-2021 Senate term or later. Because she made a serious legislative attempt but did not deliver the promised outcome, this is scored as never with an effort badge.