A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude from gross income charitable distributions from certain employer-sponsored retirement plans, and for other purposes.

What happened: On May 13, 2026, Senator Cramer (R-ND) introduced S.4511, a bill to amend Internal Revenue Code Section 402 to allow tax-free charitable distributions from qualified employer-sponsored retirement plans (401(k), 403(b), etc.) for individuals age 70.5 and older. This currently exists for IRAs under Section 408(d)(8). The bill was read twice and referred to the Senate Finance Committee. It has 3 cosponsors including Sen. Coons (D-DE), indicating bipartisan support.

The money trail: This bill does NOT authorize or appropriate any federal spending. It is a tax expenditure — the government forgoes revenue equal to the taxes that would have been owed on the charitable distribution. The mechanism is a tax exclusion (not a credit). For plan participants, it means they can direct up to the IRA QCD limit ($100k in 2026, inflation-indexed) from their 401(k) directly to a qualified charity, without including the distribution in gross income. For plan administrators and asset managers, it creates transaction volume and administrative service fees. The primary beneficiaries are asset managers with large retirement plan recordkeeping businesses and charitable giving infrastructure.

Winners/losers: Winners: $BLK (largest defined contribution asset manager, Charitable Gift Fund partnership), $SCHW (top recordkeeper with Schwab Charitable DAF). Others: $FNF (Fidelity, private), $V (Vanguard, private) are the largest recordkeepers but not publicly traded in pure form. Losers: None directly — this does not take revenue from any sector. It may modestly reduce income tax revenue for the Treasury but that is not a market impact.

Competitive landscape: $BLK and $SCHW are the publicly traded leaders. $BLK's revenue ($17.9B) is primarily asset management fees; QCD expansion directly supports AUM retention among retirees who might otherwise roll out of plans. $SCHW ($18.8B revenue) captures DAF administration fees via Schwab Charitable ($50B+ in DAF assets). Both are positioned to integrate QCD functionality into existing plan recordkeeping platforms.

Timeline: Early stage — referred to Senate Finance Committee. Bipartisan sponsorship and narrow technical scope (expanding an existing provision, not creating new policy) increase passage probability. Comparable bills (IRA QCD expansion) have passed with broad support. Likely timeline: committee markup in late 2026, possible inclusion in a year-end tax extenders package. Passage probability: 65-75%.