Proposed Legislature Aims to Shield Savings Plans.

Byline: Pamela Yip

Feb. 10--Congress has caught 401(k) fever.

In just 10 years, the number of Americans enrolled in 401(k) plans has doubled, and their assets have more than quadrupled, to about $1.7 trillion.

Small wonder, then, that the collapse of Enron Corp.'s 401(k) plan and the subsequent loss of an estimated $1 billion in workers' retirement savings has Congress scratching its collective head for a way to protect America's nest egg.

Amid a series of congressional hearings convened to get to the bottom of the Enron fiasco, lawmakers have introduced a flurry of bills aimed at ensuring that workers at other companies don't experience what Enron employees have: a total nuking of their 401(k) money.

President Bush has offered a proposal to give employees more flexibility in 401(k) stock sales, and other proposals are in the works, too.

"It has absolutely lit a fire" under Congress, said Kevin Wagner, a consulting actuary and practice leader in Houston and Detroit for Watson Wyatt Worldwide, a management consulting firm.

Various measures take aim at limiting the amount of company stock that may be invested in an employee's retirement plan; restricting the use of lockdown or blackout periods during which employees can't change investments; requiring more investment diversification; and increasing disclosure to employees.

Whether any of the measures will make it into law is a big question. Already,…