Congressman Joe Wilson introduced a bill Friday to delay the implementation of the DOL’s 401k fiduciary rule (known officially as the Conflict of Interest Rule) by two years.
Calling it the Protecting American Families’ Retirement Advice Act, the South Carolina Republican said the legislation is meant to “delay the implementation of this job-destroying rule, giving Congress and President-elect Donald Trump adequate time to re-evaluate this harmful regulation.”
Wilson is widely remembered for shouting “you lie” during President Obama’s health care speech to Congress in 2009.
“The Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule is one of the most costly, burdensome regulations to come from the Obama Administration,” the Congressman, who took office in 2001, said in a statement . “Rather than making retirement advice and financial stability more accessible for American families, they have disrupted the client-fiduciary relationship, increased costs, and limited access.”
The legislation was endorsed by several industry lobbying groups, including SIFMA, American Council of Life Insurers, Financial Services Roundtable and the Insured Retirement Institute.
Wilson is far from the first politician to call for a review or delay of the controversial legislation. In early December, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, asked three top regulators in the outgoing Obama administration to cease implantation of the rule.
The 401k fiduciary rule, he argued, would “pile significant costs onto American businesses and families and could have severe unintended consequences. These rules are likely to be undone by the incoming administration and the 115th Congress.”
“On November 8, the American people voiced their disapproval of a federal government run by regulation and executive fiat,” Johnson wrote at the time. “The incoming administration and the 115th Congress will likely re-examine and unwind burdensome regulations imposed by the Obama administration.”
Johnson’s call came on the heels of Republican Representatives Jeb Hensarling and Ann Wagner’s November calls for the same.
“We continue to believe the rule is harmful to the market and most importantly investors,” Ken Bentsen, president and CEO of SIFMA, said in a statement Friday. “As our members have worked diligently to prepare for implementation, at great cost and with consequential impacts on retirement savers, a delay in applicability would be prudent to allow the new Congress and Administration to review a better course to protect investors.”
“We thank Congressman Wilson for his leadership on this important issue,” added Cathy Weatherford, president and CEO of the Insured Retirement Institute. “We have long-standing concerns about the rule and its harmful impact on retirement savers. A delay is much needed and will provide more time to policymakers to reevaluate it and protect consumers from its negative consequences.”
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
