Illinois Secure Choice was created by state law in 2015, requiring businesses with 25 employees or more to offer retirement savings plans or take part in the new program which automatically enrolls employees in a state-created but independently managed retirement plan. While the program is overseen by the treasurer’s office and an appointed, unpaid board of advisors, the money invested by Illinois workers goes straight to an account managed by Ascensus, an independent Pennsylvania-based financial services company which won the bid for administering the program.