President Obama gave a boost Monday to an effort in California to provide more workers with retirement-savings accounts.
Three years ago California enacted a law to set up a state-run program offering a retirement-savings plan for about 6.3 million private-sector workers who do not have access to a 401(k) program or similar plan from their employers.
A few other states, including Illinois, Oregon and Connecticut, are pursuing similar plans.
But the plans must clear a few hurdles before they can be enacted, including getting exemptions from the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) that governs retirement-savings plans.