WASHINGTON (AP) — A section of the $1.7 trillion spending bill passed Friday has been billed as a dramatic step toward shoring up retirement accounts of millions of U.S. workers. But the real windfall may go to a far more secure group: the financial services industry.

The retirement savings measure labeled Secure 2.0 would reset how people enroll in retirement plans — from requiring them to opt into plans, to requiring them to opt out. The provision is designed to ensure greater participation.

It also allows workers to use their student loan payments as a substitute for their contributions to their retirement plans — meaning they can get matching retirement contributions from their employers by paying off that debt — increases the age for required distributions from plans, and expands a tax-deductible saver’s credit.

But as with so many far-reaching spending bills that get little public consideration, provisions of the legislation also benefit corporate interests with a strong financial interest in the outcome.

“Some of these provisions are good and we want to help people who want to save — but this is a huge boon to the financial services industry,” says Monique Morrissey an economist at the liberal Economic Policy Institute in Washington. Some parts of the bill, she says, are “disguised as savings incentives.”

Daniel Halperin, a Harvard law professor who specializes in tax policy and retirement savings, said one of the most clear benefits to industry is the provision that gradually increases the age for mandatory distributions from 72 to 75. “The goal is to leave that money there for as long as possible,” in order to collect administrative fees, he said. “For people who have $5 to $7 to $10 million saved, firms keep collecting fees. It’s crazy to allow them to leave it there.”

Companies like BlackRock Funds Services Group,​ Prudential Financial, Pacific Life Insurance and business lobbying groups such as the Business Roundtable and American Council of Life Insurers are only some of the entities that lobbied lawmakers on Secure 2.0, Senate lobbying disclosures show.

Katherine DeBerry, a representative from Prudential, said the firm applauds the passage of Secure 2.0, stating that it “will help ensure employees’ retirement savings last a lifetime.”

A representative from Blackrock declined to comment and Pacific Life, the Business Roundtable and American Council of Life Insurers did not respond to Associated Press requests for comment. The disclosure forms require only minimal information about the outcome the lobbyists sought.

Retiring Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) had been ushering Secure 2.0 through the massive spending bill known as an omnibus. Nearly half of the 92 provisions in Secure 2.0 come, in full or part, from Cardin-Portman legislation that was approved unanimously by the Senate Finance Committee in the summer.

“Senator Cardin is proud of his role producing a balanced package that is supported by business, labor and consumer groups,” Cardin spokesperson Sue Walitsky said in a statement. “It protects and encourages retirement savings among the most vulnerable, particularly lower-income individuals.”

Mollie Timmons, a spokeswoman for Portman said the provisions of Secure 2.0 will “help part-time workers and help more small businesses offer retirement plans to their workers, which is where most lower-income workers are employed.”

Both lawmakers’ campaigns have received large contributions from firms tied to the retirement industry, according to OpenSecrets — with Cardin receiving $329,271 from the securities and investment industry from 2017 to 2022 and Portman receiving $515,996 from the same industries in the same period.

There are good provisions in the legislation for average Americans, experts say, like the creation of employer emergency savings accounts alongside retirement accounts. The new accounts let workers create tax-protected rainy day funds. The legislation also expands the saver’s credit, which provides a 50 percent tax credit on savings up to $2,000, that will be deposited directly into a taxpayer’s IRA or retirement plan.

Morrissey and other retirement experts also say the provisions are a reminder of the need to shore up Social Security — the social program that benefits more than 70 million recipients — retirees, disabled people and children. The annual Social Security and Medicare trustees report released in June says the program’s trust fund will be unable to pay full benefits beginning in 2035.

For many Americans, Social Security — financed by payroll taxes collected from workers and their employers — is their only means of retirement savings.

In the sweeping spending package passed Friday, lawmakers authorized roughly half of the $1.4 billion spending increase proposed by the Biden administration for Social Security.

“Funding for the Social Security Administration has steadily eroded over the past decade, while the number of people it serves has grown,” said Nancy LeaMond, AARP executive vice president. “This has resulted in longer wait times, overwhelmed field offices and disability processing times that have skyrocketed to an all-time high.

“More must be done,” she said.

In a Pew Research Center poll in January, 57 percent of U.S. adults said that “taking steps to make the Social Security system financially sound” should be a top priority for the president and Congress. Securing Social Security got bipartisan support, with 56% of Democrats and 58% of Republicans calling it a top priority.

Nancy Altman, co-director of Social Security Works, an advocacy group, said Congress should be adequately funding Social Security if “the goal was to really help middle income families.”

Still, the latest legislation is a small step meant to assist the millions of Americans who haven’t saved for retirement.

U.S. Census data show that roughly half of Americans are saving for their retirement. In 2020, 58% of working-age baby boomers owned at least one type of retirement account, followed by 56% of Gen X-ers, 49% of millennials and 7.7% of Gen Z-ers.

Olivia Mitchell, a Wharton economist who specializes in retirement savings, says the results of Secure 2.0′s passage may be felt most with workers at companies that match their employees’ contributions.

She said research suggests that auto-enrollment can boost retirement plan coverage initially but participation may fall over time.

Mitchell studied the first state-based plan of its kind, OregonSaves, which auto-enrolled workers whose firms did not have retirement savings plans. She found that only 36% of workers had a positive balance after one year. Less than half of those in the plan were still contributing after a year.

Nonetheless, she said, “the fact remains that low-paid workers who change jobs often are a difficult target to reach via retirement saving plans.”

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WASHINGTON (AP) — A $1.7 trillion spending bill financing federal agencies through September and providing more aid to a devastated Ukraine cleared the House on Friday as lawmakers raced to finish their work for the year and avoid a partial government shutdown.

The bill passed mostly along party lines, 225-201. It now goes to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.

Passage of the bill represented a closing act for Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s second stint as House speaker, and for the Democratic majority she led back to power in the 2018 election. Republicans will take control of the House next year and Rep. Kevin McCarthy is campaigning to replace her.

He is appealing for support from staunch conservatives in his caucus who have largely trashed the size of the bill and many of the priorities it contains. He spoke with a raised voice for about 25 minutes, assailing the bill for spending too much and doing too little to curb illegal immigration and the flow of fentanyl across the U.S.-Mexico border.

“This is a monstrosity that is one of the most shameful acts I’ve ever seen in this body,” McCarthy said of the legislation.

The speech prompted a quick quip from Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., who said “after listening to that, it’s clear he doesn’t have the votes yet,” a reference to McCarthy’s campaign to become speaker.

Pelosi said “we have a big bill here because we had big needs for the country,” then turned her focus to McCarthy:

“It was sad to hear the minority leader say that this legislation is the most shameful thing to be seen on the House floor in this Congress,” Pelosi said. “I can’t help but wonder, had he forgotten January 6th?”

Biden applauded the bill’s approval, saying it was proof that Republicans and Democrats can work together, and “I’m looking forward to continued bipartisan progress in the year ahead.”

“This bill is good for our economy, our competitiveness and our communities — and I will sign it into law as soon as it reaches my desk,” Biden said.

The Senate passed the defense-heavy measure with significant bipartisan support Thursday, but the vote was much more split in the House. Some 30 GOP lawmakers promised to block any legislative priority that comes from those Republican senators who voted for the bill and leadership urged a no vote.

In the end, nine House Republicans voted for the bill. Seven of them are leaving Congress. Only Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Steve Womack of Arkansas are returning. The lone Democrat to vote against the measure was Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.

The bill runs for 4,155 pages, not including amendments the Senate added. It contains about a 6% percent increase in spending for domestic initiatives, to $772.5 billion. Spending on defense programs will increase by about 10% to $858 billion.

The bill’s passage came only hours before financing for federal agencies was set to expire. Lawmakers had passed two stopgap spending measures to keep the government operating, and a third, funding the government through Dec. 30, passed Friday and was signed by Biden. That ensured services continue until Biden could sign the full-year measure, called an omnibus, into law.

The massive bill wraps together 12 appropriations bills, aid to Ukraine and disaster relief for communities recovering from hurricanes, flooding and wildfires. It also contains scores of policy changes that lawmakers worked to include in the final major bill considered by the current Congress.

Lawmakers provided roughly $45 billion for Ukraine and NATO allies, more than even Biden requested, an acknowledgment that future rounds of funding are not guaranteed with a new GOP-led House.

In a dramatic address to a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told lawmakers that the aid was not charity, but an investment in global security and democracy.

Though Ukraine aid has largely had bipartisan support, some House Republicans have been critical of the effort, arguing the money is better spent on priorities in the U.S.

“How can we send an additional $47 BILLION to Ukraine for security while terrorists, drugs, and criminals flood our southern border?” tweeted Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont.

“$100 billion to Ukraine. Let’s put that in perspective,” tweeted Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who included past rounds of aid in his count. “That’s more than $200 million this year from each Congressional district. What could your congressman have done for your district with $200 million?”

McCarthy has warned that Republicans would not write a “blank check” for Ukraine in the next Congress. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said after Thursday’s vote he’s having trouble understanding the concerns.

“I’m just befuddled by some of these right-wing Republicans who don’t want to help Ukraine,” Schumer said. “It’s always been, the more hard right you were, the more anti-Soviet you were, but all of a sudden, they’re pro. I hope it’s not a residue of Trump.”

The Senate passed the funding package Thursday by a vote of 68-29 but it takes time for the Senate clerk’s office to review the bill and include amendments that were added that day. As a result, the bill ended up passing with a half-empty House chamber. More than 220 lawmakers sought the option to vote by proxy, and many raced to get out of town before risking canceled flights and spending Christmas in Washington.

Republicans have vowed that abolishing the practice of remote voting will be among their first acts in the majority next year.

The funding bill also contains roughly $40 billion in emergency spending in the U.S., mostly to assist communities across the country recovering from drought, hurricanes and other natural disasters.

And it has scores of policy changes largely unrelated to spending that lawmakers worked furiously behind the scenes to include, else they start from scratch next year in a divided Congress where Republicans will be returning to the majority in the House.

One of the most notable examples was a historic revision to federal election law that aims to prevent any future presidents or presidential candidates from trying to overturn an election.

The bipartisan overhaul of the Electoral Count Act is in direct response to former President Donald Trump’s efforts to persuade Republican lawmakers and then-Vice President Mike Pence to object to the certification of Biden’s victory on Jan. 6, 2021.

Among the spending increases Democrats emphasized: a $500 increase in the maximum size of Pell grants for low-income college students, a $100 million increase in block grants to states for substance abuse prevention and treatment programs, a 22% increase in spending on VA medical care and $3.7 billion to provide emergency relief to farmers and ranchers hit by natural disasters, just to name a few.

The bill also provides roughly $15.3 billion for more than 7,200 projects that lawmakers sought for their home states and districts. Under revamped rules for community project funding, also referred to as earmarks, lawmakers must post their requests online and attest they have no financial interest in the projects. Still, many fiscal conservatives criticize the earmarking as leading to unnecessary spending.

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