OUR REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT:

"I've called on the Department of Labor and [Labor Secretary] Tom Perez to propose a set of rules by the end of the year to provide a clear path forward for states to create retirement-savings programs," Obama said during a White House conference on aging.

"We want to do everything we can to encourage more states to take this step," he said. "We've got to make it easier for people to save for retirement."

Under the California plan, written by state Sen. Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles), eligible workers would be automatically enrolled, and have their contributions automatically deducted from their paychecks, unless they opted out of the plan.

The plan, called the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program, would apply to businesses with five or more employees that do not offer an employer-sponsored plan. Employees who participate would have about 3% of their wages withheld for the plan.

The goal is to provide workers with an added retirement benefit beyond Social Security and Medicare.

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