House Republicans struggle to schedule ESG votes (2023)
| Environmental, social, and corporate governance |
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House Republicans are struggling to schedule floor votes on standalone legislation opposing ESG that advanced out of the House Financial Services Committee in July, according to Bloomberg Law:
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A key House Republican voice for the anti-environment, social and governance movement said he still sees multiple ways to advance at least a few ESG-related measures that have languished since clearing his committee over the summer, but the window to act is narrowing. Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, acknowledged he has no definitive strategy on securing a floor vote for three anti-ESG bills reported out of his panel in July—dubbed as “ESG month.” Yet lawmakers have a “a waterfall of options” to get the legislation across the finish line, McHenry said. “It’s been the goal of all my legislative packages to give us a variety of optionality.” … Progress on the committee’s bills came to a standstill for months, as Congress brought the government to the brink of a shutdown and Republicans wrangled over electing a new House speaker.[1] |
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But Republican leaders are still pursuing alternative options to oppose recently enacted ESG rules:
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Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have proposed a budget for the Department of Labor that would block the DOL’s final rule on environmental, social and governance considerations in retirement plans and a proposed rule that would modify the definition of independent contractor. The House also approved amendments to the bill—H.R. 5894, the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2024—which would block proposed changes to the definition of a fiduciary. … The base text of the DOL funding bill would prevent the DOL from implementing the ESG fiduciary final rule, which permits plans to consider ESG factors in qualified retirement plan investment selection, and from finalizing an October 2022 proposal which would modify the definition of independent contractor. The latter would make it easier for a worker to be classified as an employee and make workers less likely to be classified as independent contractors. The White House explicitly opposed both measures and announced that President Joe Biden would veto the bill if it reached his desk; on March 20, Biden vetoed a prior Congressional attempt to overturn the ESG fiduciary rule via the Congressional Review Act.[1] |
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See also
- Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
- Economy and Society: Ballotpedia's ESG newsletter
External links
Footnotes
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