In political circles these days, one hears a lot of talk about "common ground." Problem is, there isn't much.

So consider this for a concept upon which those on the left, right and center could commonly agree:

"Society benefits when individuals, through their own labor, develop financial assets that will provide a better future for themselves and their families."

Read that last paragraph again, and raise your hand if you agree.

OK, now put your hands down and consider a proposal in the Legislature, sponsored by the New America Foundation.

At a lunchtime briefing at the state Capitol last week, J. Mark Irwy, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a national expert on retirement-savings policy, talked about the need to expand programs that encourage savings.

As a rule, Americans don't do a very good job of it, even though the federal government spends about $100 billion a year in the form of tax deductions to promote savings.

Despite that substantial government effort — allowing tax breaks for contributions to Individual Retirement Accounts and employer-sponsored 401(k) retirement-savings plans — only about half of American workers have a tax-favored retirement-savings account.

The system is structured, Irwy noted, so that "the greatest incentive to save goes to those who need it the least."

For an upper-middle income worker with a 401(k), the employer typically matches 50 cents for each dollar saved and the government deducts 35 cents of taxes for each dollar saved. That's an 85 percent first-year return on savings.

It's a very good deal, but Irwy said that in California nearly 56 percent of workers don't get it. That's how many have no access to a 401(k), ranking the state 48th out of 50 in the percentage of workers covered by an employer-based retirement plan.

For moderate-income workers who work for an employer that does not offer a 401(k) plan, the incentives are slim. Even if he or she does take the initiative to contribute to an IRA, the value of the tax benefit is 15 cents, 10 cents or even nothing on the dollar, depending on the worker's tax bracket.

A better approach at the federal level, Irwy argued, is to use refundable tax credits. That way, all workers would benefit equally from government policies designed to promote savings.

But until that happens at the federal level, he said, there is one big thing that states can do. They can make it easier for low- and moderate-income workers to save by allowing them to take advantage of two of the desirable elements of an employer-sponsored plan: payroll deduction and convenient access to sound investment options.

States can do that by creating employer-linked retirement accounts. These would not require employers to make a contribution, but would allow workers to save regularly through payroll deductions. The accounts would be in the names of the workers, and would follow them from job to job.

The New America Foundation's idea is embodied in AB2940, by Assemblyman Kevin De Leon, D-Los Angeles. It would establish the California Employee Savings Program, to be administered by the California Public Employees Retirement System, the same entity that invests the pension contributions of state and local government workers.

Irwy said that if state government took on this role of savings-facilitator, the power of free-market economics would take things from there.

"The role for government is to get things going, and then get out of the way," he said.

Once workers start receiving quarterly statements and looking them over — seeing their money, growing month-by-month — a transformation could take place.

"It changes folks," Irwy said. "There is a magic in wealth accumulation. It creates a feeling of independence, a motivation to work harder and to save more."

AB2940 passed out the Assembly Appropriations Committee last week and awaits action by the full Assembly. Thus far, it has received no Republican votes in the two committees it has gone through. There is concern about the role of CalPERS, and there is debate about whether employers should be required to make this savings option available and, if so, whether small employers should be exempted.

But the bill has the support of the California Small Business Association and has not attracted formal opposition from any of the larger employer groups.

It's too good of an idea, and too important a concept, to become the subject of another partisan split. There's a chance over the next several months to create a bipartisan program that encourages savings and motivates work.

It is, Irwy says, "a potential major piece of common ground."

— Timm Herdt is chief of The Star's state bureau. Read his political blog "95 percent accurate*" at http://www.TimmHerdt.com.