WASHINGTON, D.C., (Feb. 28, 2023) – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.J.Res. 30, which would nullify a Biden administration rule that allows retirement plan investment managers to make investment decisions based on political factors instead of solely on the financial benefits to the plan and participants. Rep. Burchett is an original cosponsor of this resolution.
“Folks want their retirement investment managers to make decisions that will benefit them in retirement, not fund liberal political agendas,” said Rep. Burchett. “These investors have no right to consider anything other than their shareholders’ well-being, and a bill to enforce that fact is a no-brainer.”
On December 1, 2022 the U.S. Department of Labor published a final rule requiring retirement plan fiduciaries (i.e., retirement plan investment managers) to consider environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors when making investment decisions and exercising shareholder rights.
This goes against the Employee Retirement Income Security Act as well as the 2014 U.S. Supreme Court Case Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer, which specify a retirement plan fiduciary must act with the exclusive purpose of providing financial benefits to participants and beneficiaries, and not consider “collateral” benefits such as advancing a political or ideological agenda.
H.J.Res. 30 nullifies this rule under the Congressional Review Act. More information on the resolution can be found here.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://burchett.house.gov/media/press-releases/house-passes-burchett-backed-bill-nullify-biden-admin-rule-incorporates-esg