Four Republican lawmakers introduced a bill in the House to challenge proposed rules by the Labor Department that would explicitly allow retirement plan trustees to consider environmental, social, and governance factors. .
Representatives Greg Murphy, RN.C.; Carol Miller, RW.Va.; David Schweikert, R-Arizona. and Lloyd Smucker, Pennsylvania, Wednesday, in response to the DOL proposal introduced in October 2021, requiring ERISA fiduciaries to “consider climate change and other ESG factors in evaluating investment risk and return.” We have introduced a bill to make it possible.
“The Biden administration’s proposed changes to ERISA would abandon fiduciary duty by allowing ‘awakened’ ESG factors to drive investment returns,” Murphy said in a press release Wednesday. It puts people’s retirement savings at risk.” “Our common-sense law would impose strict enforcement measures to ensure that ‘wake-up’ Biden policies do not impede Americans’ retirement savings.
The proposed bill, called the Protect Investment Options for Retirement Act Act, was introduced in March by Reps. Based on the bill.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is one of several state-level Republicans who have championed anti-ESG policies. In August, along with his two other trustees on the Florida Board of Executives, he passed a resolution prohibiting consideration of ESG factors when making investment decisions for the $182 billion Florida Retirement Plan. Passed.
On August 4, 19 Republican Attorney Generals sent a letter to BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, criticizing its ESG-related initiatives. One of his participants was Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrissey West, who is supporting the new House bill.
“This bill would put in place an important guardrail to prevent far-left schemes from robbing people of the full returns they deserve from their investments,” Morrissey said at a press conference. “As Attorney General of West Virginia, I stand firm with my colleagues to counter his ESG policies in the Biden administration, which is waging an all-out war against traditional American energy and values.”
