Free data set

State auto-IRA & retirement mandate tracker

Name: State Auto-IRA & Retirement Mandate Tracker (50 states + DC)
Creator: Gigaverse AI
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Every state-facilitated retirement savings program in the United States, with the employer threshold that triggers it, the registration deadlines, and an official source for each row. Free to cite and free to embed.

of 50 states and DC have enacted a program

programs are open and operating today

place a legal duty on employers

cover 1099 independent contractors

The finding: the mandate trigger is a W-2 headcount, everywhere

22 states have enacted a state-facilitated retirement program and 17 of them require employers to act. Not one counts an independent contractor toward the threshold, and not one requires a hiring business to facilitate enrollment for someone it pays on a 1099. Auto-IRAs work by payroll deduction, and there is no payroll to deduct from when a business pays an invoice. Oregon makes the logic plainest: a business with no W-2 employees does not register, it certifies an exemption.

That is a separate question from whether a self-employed person can open an account on their own. 10 programs in this table are documented as permitting voluntary self-enrollment, and where that is available it is a genuinely good option. Most mandate tables collapse those two questions into one column, which is how they end up wrong. This one keeps them apart.

The table

Sort by state, status or mandate size; filter with the two dropdowns. All 50 states and DC are listed, including the 29 with no enacted program, so the denominator is visible rather than implied.

Showing 51 of 51

State-by-state auto-IRA and retirement-mandate tracker. No state program's employer mandate covers 1099 independent contractors.
	Program			Key dates	Covers 1099?	Source
Alabama	— No enacted state-facilitated program. Not among the 22 states Georgetown CRI counts as having enacted a program.	No program	No program	—	n/a	cri.georgetown.edu
Alaska	— No enacted state-facilitated program.	No program	No program	—	n/a	cri.georgetown.edu
Arizona	— No enacted state-facilitated program.	No program	No program	—	n/a	cri.georgetown.edu
Arkansas	— No enacted state-facilitated program.	No program	No program	—	n/a	cri.georgetown.edu
California	CalSavers Retirement Savings Program The mandate counts W-2 employees only; a business that pays only 1099 contractors is not a covered employer. Self-employed Californians may enrol themselves directly (CalSavers saver site; Congressional Research Service R48484).	Active	Employers with 1+ California employee aged 18 or over and no qualified retirement plan	Phase-in complete. The final wave (1–4 employees) closed December 31, 2025, so the mandate reaches every size of employer as of January 1, 2026. A business that first reports an employee during 2026 must register or certify an exemption by December 31, 2026.	No	treasurer.ca.gov
Colorado	Colorado SecureSavings One secondary source gives the 50+ deadline as March 30, 2023; the program-derived sources say March 15, 2023. The program help centre confirms self-enrolment for anyone 18+ with earned income employed in Colorado.	Active	Employers with 5+ employees, in business 2+ years, with no qualified retirement plan	Launched January 2023. Registration waves closed March 15, 2023 (50+), May 15, 2023 (15–49) and June 30, 2023 (5–14). Newly eligible employers are notified individually.	No	coloradosecuresavings.com
Connecticut	MyCTSavings SOURCES CONFLICT on self-enrolment: myctsavings.com tells self-employed savers they can contribute directly to their own Roth IRA, while Congressional Research Service report R48484 describes MyCTSavings as available only through employers. Confirm with the program before relying on it. A reported July 1, 2026 extension to state-funded personal care attendants comes from a commercial compliance page, not an official Connecticut source — unverified.	Active	Employers in business 2+ full calendar years that had 5+ Connecticut employees on October 1 of the prior year, paid at least five of them $5,000+ in taxable wages, and offer no qualified plan	Waves closed June 30, 2022 (100+), October 31, 2022 (26–99) and March 30, 2023 (5–25, extended to August 31, 2023). Newly eligible businesses register by August 31 each year.	No	myctsavings.com
Delaware	Delaware EARNS Employers with fewer than five employees, or in business under six months, are exempt but may join voluntarily. No published statement either way on self-enrolment by the self-employed — unverified.	Active	Employers with 5+ W-2 workers, established before July 1 of the prior calendar year, with no qualified plan	Launched July 1, 2024; the first registration/exemption deadline was October 15, 2024. Newly eligible businesses faced a June 30, 2026 deadline. Penalty enforcement began in 2026.	No	treasurer.delaware.gov
District of Columbia	— No enacted program and no auto-IRA mandate for private employers. Bill 26-230 in the 2025–26 Council proposed a universally available, voluntary program; it was introduced, not enacted.	No program	No program	—	n/a	cri.georgetown.edu
Florida	— No enacted state-facilitated program.	No program	No program	—	n/a	cri.georgetown.edu
Georgia	— No enacted state-facilitated program.	No program	No program	—	n/a	cri.georgetown.edu
Hawaii	Hawaiʻi Retirement Savings Program SOURCES CONFLICT on the enrolment model: the 2022 act is described as employee opt-in with an employer duty to notify and facilitate, while later commercial summaries describe a standard auto-enrolment programme with a 5% default. Whether the amendment converting it to auto-enrolment is in force is unverified. No launch-date certainty and no self-enrolment statement.	Launching	Businesses with 1+ employee, in operation 2+ years, that have not offered a qualified plan in the past two years	Enacted 2022. The board voted on February 10, 2026 to join the Connecticut-led multistate partnership; the program is projected to launch in late December 2026. No employer registration deadlines have been announced.	No	labor.hawaii.gov
Idaho	— No enacted state-facilitated program.	No program	No program	—	n/a	cri.georgetown.edu
Illinois	My Illinois Savings (formerly Illinois Secure Choice) The Illinois Treasurer states the program is open for self-enrolment by individuals with earned income, including the self-employed. Congressional Research Service R48484 lists Illinois among the programs permitting it.	Active	Private employers in business 2+ years with 5+ employees in every quarter of the prior calendar year and no qualified plan	All size waves closed: November 1, 2018 (500+), July 1, 2019 (100–499), November 1, 2019 (25–99), November 1, 2022 (16–24) and November 1, 2023 (5–15). Newly eligible employers receive an access code and an individual deadline.	No	myilsavings.com
Indiana	— No enacted state-facilitated program.	No program	No program	—	n/a	cri.georgetown.edu
Iowa	— No enacted state-facilitated program.	No program	No program	—	n/a	cri.georgetown.edu
Kansas	— No enacted program. A Kansas Empowerment Savings Program bill was before the House as of February 2026; an introduced bill is not a program.	No program	No program	—	n/a	cri.georgetown.edu
Kentucky	— No enacted state-facilitated program.	No program	No program	—	n/a	cri.georgetown.edu
Louisiana	— No enacted state-facilitated program.	No program	No program	—	n/a	cri.georgetown.edu
Maine	Maine Retirement Investment Trust (MERIT) MERIT is unusually explicit that self-employed individuals may participate — but by opening their own account, not through any employer facilitation.	Active	Employers with 5+ eligible employees, in operation during the current and prior calendar year, that have not offered a qualified plan in the preceding two years	Launched January 17, 2024. Deadlines closed April 30, 2024 (15+) and June 30, 2024 (5–14), with rolling deadlines for newly eligible businesses — most recently June 30, 2026. MERIT began enforcement in 2026 against employers that missed 2024 and 2025 deadlines.	No	meritsaves.com
Maryland	MarylandSaves (Maryland Small Business Retirement Savings Program) Maryland is incentive-based rather than penalty-based: there is no monetary fine for non-compliance, only the loss of the filing-fee waiver. The MarylandSaves help centre states that sole proprietors and 1099 contractors can enrol themselves.	Active	Employers registered in Maryland, in operation 2+ calendar years, with at least one W-2 employee, that use an automated payroll system and offer no qualified plan	Launched September 15, 2022. Register or certify an exemption by December 31 of the year after meeting the criteria; registering by December 31 waives the following year’s $300 SDAT annual report filing fee.	No	marylandsaves.com
Massachusetts	Massachusetts Defined Contribution CORE Plan Not an auto-IRA and not a mandate. A voluntary 401(k) multiple-employer plan open to Massachusetts nonprofit employers only (historically 20 or fewer employees; a reported expansion to 100 in the FY26 budget is sourced only to a commercial compliance page — unverified). Georgetown CRI counts it among the 17 open state programs.	Active	Voluntary, no mandate	Signed into law 2012; launched October 27, 2017 as the first state-facilitated multiple-employer plan in the country.	No	cri.georgetown.edu
Michigan	— No enacted state-facilitated program.	No program	No program	—	n/a	cri.georgetown.edu
Minnesota	Minnesota Secure Choice Retirement Program Sources give the January 2026 launch date variously as January 1, 16 or 19; the program site refers to a January 19, 2026 launch. No published statement on self-enrolment by the self-employed — unverified.	Active	Employers with 5+ employees, in business 12+ months, with no qualified plan; register or certify an exemption	Opened January 2026 — the most recent program to open to all eligible employers. Phase-in: 100+ by June 30, 2026; 50–99 by December 31, 2026; 25–49 by June 30, 2027; 10–24 by December 31, 2027; 5–9 by June 30, 2028.	No	mn.gov
Mississippi	Mississippi Work and Save Voluntary payroll-deduction IRA, not a mandate: participating employers may offer eligible employees the choice to contribute. Sources conflict on whether employees are auto-enrolled with an opt-out or must opt in — unverified. No operating program yet.	Enacted, not launched	Voluntary, no mandate	HB 4073 signed April 8, 2026 — the 22nd state program. Statute requires contributions to be possible no later than August 1, 2028, with phase-in substantially complete by July 1, 2028.	No	cri.georgetown.edu
Missouri	Show-Me MyRetirement Savings Plan Voluntary open multiple-employer 401(k)-style plan for employers with 50 or fewer employees that have had no plan in the past two years — there is no employer mandate and no non-compliance penalty. Whether the program is fully operational today is unverified.	Active	Voluntary, no mandate	Enacted 2023; scheduled to launch September 1, 2025.	No	cri.georgetown.edu
Montana	— No enacted state-facilitated program.	No program	No program	—	n/a	cri.georgetown.edu
Nebraska	— No enacted state-facilitated program.	No program	No program	—	n/a	cri.georgetown.edu
Nevada	Nevada Employee Savings Trust (NEST) The program site lists additional groups for whom NEST is available but the list could not be read in full — self-enrolment by the self-employed is unverified.	Active	Employers with 6+ employees, in business 36+ months, that do not offer a qualified plan	SB 305 enacted June 2023 (NRS 353D); program operational June 2025; employer registration deadline September 1, 2025.	No	nest.nv.gov
New Hampshire	— No enacted state-facilitated program.	No program	No program	—	n/a	cri.georgetown.edu
New Jersey	RetireReady NJ (New Jersey Secure Choice Savings Program) The RetireReady NJ help centre states that anyone 18 or older with earned income who is eligible to contribute to an IRA can open their own account.	Active	Businesses in operation 2+ years with 10+ employees and no qualified plan (threshold lowered from 25 to 10 by P.L. 2025, c.379)	Program opened June 30, 2024. Closed deadlines: September 15, 2024 (40+) and November 15, 2024 (25–39). Upcoming: December 1, 2026 (20–24 employees) and February 17, 2027 (10–19 employees).	No	nj.gov
New Mexico	New Mexico Work and $ave Voluntary for both employers and employees — no mandate. The enabling act is unusual in explicitly covering the self-employed, but with the program on indefinite hold nobody is covered in practice.	Enacted, not launched	Voluntary, no mandate	House Bill 44 enacted 2020 with a statutory implementation date of on or before July 1, 2024, which was missed. Launch is postponed indefinitely; 2026 legislation to move the program out of the Treasurer’s Office stalled.	No	nmsto.gov
New York	New York State Secure Choice Savings Program Secondary sources give the first deadline as March 16 or March 19, 2026; the official program site says March 18, 2026, which is the date used here. Nothing found confirming or denying self-enrolment by the self-employed — unverified.	Active	Private employers with 10+ employees, in business 2+ years, with no qualified plan; auto-enrolment into a Roth IRA at a 3% default	Registration deadlines by size: March 18, 2026 (30+ employees), May 15, 2026 (15–29) and July 15, 2026 (10–14).	No	newyorksecurechoice.com
North Carolina	— No enacted program. Legislation has been considered; an introduced bill is not a program.	No program	No program	—	n/a	cri.georgetown.edu
North Dakota	— No enacted state-facilitated program.	No program	No program	—	n/a	cri.georgetown.edu
Ohio	— No enacted state-facilitated program.	No program	No program	—	n/a	cri.georgetown.edu
Oklahoma	— No enacted state-facilitated program.	No program	No program	—	n/a	cri.georgetown.edu
Oregon	OregonSaves The employer duty is defined on W-2 employees, and a business with none certifies an exemption — which is the cleanest illustration in the country that the mandate does not reach contractor payments. OregonSaves separately lets the self-employed contribute directly to their own Roth IRA.	Active	All Oregon employers with 1+ W-2 employee and no qualified plan — there is no small-employer carve-out. Employers with no W-2 employees, or with a plan, must certify an exemption.	All size waves closed between November 15, 2017 (50+) and July 31, 2023 (1–3). Ongoing rule: a business established after March 31 registers by July 31 of the following year. Next posted deadline for newly eligible businesses is July 31, 2026.	No	oregonsaves.com
Pennsylvania	— No enacted program. The proposed Keystone Saves Program (HB 577 passed the House May 16, 2025; SB 1069 pending) would cover employers with 5+ employees in business 15+ months, with no penalty in the current bill text. It is not law and Pennsylvania is not among Georgetown CRI’s 22 program states.	No program	No program	—	n/a	palegis.us
Rhode Island	RISavers Retirement Savings Program 2026 amendment legislation lowering the covered-employer threshold has passed; the new threshold is unverified. Because RISavers runs on the Connecticut platform, any Connecticut limitation on self-enrolment may carry over — unverified, confirm with the program.	Active	Employers with 5+ employees and no tax-qualified plan; smaller employers may join voluntarily	Enacted June 2024; opened to all eligible employers October 21, 2025 through a partnership with Connecticut’s MyCTSavings. Waves: 100+ by October 21, 2026; 50+ by October 21, 2027; 5+ by October 21, 2028.	No	risavers.com
South Carolina	— No enacted state-facilitated program.	No program	No program	—	n/a	cri.georgetown.edu
South Dakota	— No enacted state-facilitated program.	No program	No program	—	n/a	cri.georgetown.edu
Tennessee	— No enacted state-facilitated program.	No program	No program	—	n/a	cri.georgetown.edu
Texas	— No enacted state-facilitated program.	No program	No program	—	n/a	cri.georgetown.edu
Utah	Utah Retirement Plan Exchange Explicitly not a mandate: a voluntary marketplace where private employers can compare and select plans. No employer registration requirement, no deadline and no penalty.	Enacted, not launched	Voluntary, no mandate	HB 250 signed March 24, 2026 — the 21st state program — effective May 6, 2026. The exchange must be operational and accepting applications from plan providers no later than November 2, 2026.	No	le.utah.gov
Vermont	VT Saves SOURCES CONFLICT on the threshold: an ADP compliance table gives 5+ employees while another vendor page reports it has since dropped to 2+. The 5+ figure is the one that could be sourced; confirm with the Treasurer before relying on it. Self-enrolment unverified.	Active	Employers with 5+ employees, in business 2+ years, with no qualified plan	S.135 signed June 1, 2023; effective January 2025; first registration deadline March 1, 2025. Penalties are tiered, capped at $10 per employee before October 1, 2025 and rising thereafter.	No	vermontsaves.com
Virginia	RetirePath Virginia RetirePath is explicit that independent contractors, gig workers and the self-employed can join on their own — as savers, never through a hiring business. Sources disagree on whether part-time employees below the 30-hour threshold count as eligible employees — unverified.	Active	For-profit and nonprofit employers in operation 2+ years with 5+ eligible employees (18+, 30 or more hours a week) and no qualified plan — threshold lowered from 25 to 5 effective July 1, 2026	Threshold dropped from 25 to 5 on July 1, 2026. 2026 registration deadlines: September 30, 2026 (10–24 eligible employees) and October 30, 2026 (5–9 and 25+). Maximum penalty $200 per eligible employee per year.	No	retirepathva.com
Washington	Washington Saves (and the Washington Small Business Retirement Marketplace) Two different things, often conflated. The voluntary Small Business Retirement Marketplace is already operating and is what Georgetown CRI counts among the 17 open state programs; the Washington Saves mandate is not yet live. Note the hours-based rather than headcount-based threshold — still a measure of employee hours, not contractor invoices.	Launching	Washington Saves: private employers in operation 2+ years whose workforce worked 10,400+ combined hours in the prior calendar year, unless they offer a qualifying plan	Washington Saves enacted 2024 (RCW 19.05); board final report due December 1, 2026; auto-enrolment begins July 1, 2027, possibly phased by employer size.	No	lni.wa.gov
West Virginia	— No enacted state-facilitated program.	No program	No program	—	n/a	cri.georgetown.edu
Wisconsin	— No enacted state-facilitated program.	No program	No program	—	n/a	cri.georgetown.edu
Wyoming	— No enacted state-facilitated program.	No program	No program	—	n/a	cri.georgetown.edu

Last verified 2026-09-09. Deadlines and thresholds are set by the states and change often — check the linked official source before relying on a date.

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<p>Source: <a href="https://gigaverse.ai/state-auto-ira/tracker">State Auto-IRA &amp; Retirement Mandate Tracker</a>, Gigaverse AI (updated 2026-09-09).</p>

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Gigaverse AI. (2026). State auto-IRA & retirement mandate tracker: All 50 states and DC (Version 2026-09-09) [Data set]. Gigaverse. https://gigaverse.ai/state-auto-ira/tracker

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Methodology

Each row was checked against the official program or state treasurer site where one exists, and against the Georgetown University Center for Retirement Initiatives state-program tracker, which is the count the field uses, where an official page was not available. The Source column links whichever we used. The 1099 and self-enrollment columns also draw on Congressional Research Service report R48484.

What counts as a program. A state is listed as having a program only once legislation is enacted. Introduced bills are not programs: Pennsylvania's Keystone Saves, a Kansas proposal and a District of Columbia bill are all recorded as "no program" with a note, not as pending entries that inflate the count. Voluntary marketplaces and multiple-employer plans are included as programs but carry no employer mandate, so they do not appear in the 17.

Where sources disagree, we say so. Several rows carry an explicit note recording a conflict — Vermont's employee threshold, Hawaii's enrollment model, New York's first deadline, Connecticut's self-enrollment availability. We did not pick a winner silently. Fields that could not be confirmed are marked unverified rather than filled with a plausible guess, and no program, deadline or threshold appears here that we could not source.

Update cadence. Reviewed at least quarterly and after any state enacts or amends a program. The date on each row is the date that row was last checked, not the date the page was deployed. Found something wrong or out of date? Tell us and we will fix it and re-date the row.

Why we built this

Gigaverse builds retirement and tax tools for people who work for themselves. The gap in this table is our whole reason for existing: state programs have moved tens of billions of dollars into retirement accounts for W-2 workers, and independent contractors were left outside every one of them by design, not oversight.

If your state runs a program and you can join it, join it — our honest comparison of state auto-IRAs walks through when a state plan is the better choice. If you are outside every program, that is what we built for.

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Educational information only, not tax, legal or investment advice. Gigaverse AI, Inc. is not a bank and is not a registered investment adviser; it is pursuing SEC registration. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any state retirement program, any state treasurer's office, or the Georgetown University Center for Retirement Initiatives. Program terms are set by the states and can change without notice — verify current requirements and deadlines with the program directly before acting. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal.