The House could take up legislation that helps people retire before the end of the year, ''or certainly very early next year,'' House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., said on Thursday.

"I think retirement savings is going to be very, very important going forward," Neal said during The Hill’s virtual event analyzing the results of the recent elections, which was sponsored by AARP. He also said that additional legislation could come "in a lame-duck session or certainly very early next year."

Last month, Neal and the ranking Republican on the panel, Texas Rep. Kevin Brady, proposed a bill providing several provisions to help people save money for their retirement, which would supplement a bill passed last year, and comes at the same time as a similar bipartisan bill in the Senate.

Neal said that his and Brady’s new bill includes a provision that raises the required age to receive minimum distributions from a retirement plan, up to 75 from 72. He also said that he will continue to promote his other proposal, which would enact automatic payroll deductions from Individual Retirement Accounts, or auto IRAs, which has the support of Joe Biden.

"I intend to use the next two years to further enhance retirement savings, making better use of automatic enrollment, and trying very hard to pass my auto IRA bill,'' the congressman said.

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