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Republican pushback against proposed ESG rules (2021)
| Environmental, social, and corporate governance |
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| • What is ESG? • Enacted ESG legislation • Arguments for and against ESG • Opposition to ESG • Federal ESG rules • ESG legislation tracker • Economy and Society: Ballotpedia's weekly ESG newsletter |
In response to the recent Labor Department introduction of a proposed rule that would give retirement-plan managers regulated by ERISA (the Employee Retirement Security Act) greater leeway in using ESG principles in their investment decisions (repudiating the Trump Administration’s plan to insulate retirement savings from investments that it saw as politically motivated and potentially risky), Republicans decided to delay the confirmation process for Biden’s nominee to head the Labor Department’s Employee Benefit Security Administration, Lisa Gomez. According to Bloomberg Law:
| “ | “Republican lawmakers’ opposition to a Biden administration proposal to favor environmentally conscious retirement funds is delaying Senate action on President Joe Biden‘s pick to oversee private-sector employee benefits.
GOP members of the committee considering Lisa Gomez’s nomination to run the U.S. Department of Labor’s benefits arm want answers to questions they’ve submitted to her and to the administration about the new rulemaking on the use of environmental, social, and corporate governance factors in retirement portfolios, a senior Republican staffer on the panel told Bloomberg Law. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who chairs the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, agreed to a request from Republican senators to delay a vote on Gomez’s nomination, according to the staffer, who requested anonymity because they didn’t have authorization to speak to the media. The extra time will allow Gomez to respond to questions about her ideas on ESG funds. Gomez, who testified before Murray’s panel on Oct. 7, was omitted from a package of eight nominees who are scheduled to receive a committee vote Oct. 26. That group includes another nominee for DOL who received a joint confirmation hearing alongside Gomez. A week after that hearing, the agency Gomez is picked to lead, the Employee Benefits Security Administration, released a proposed rule that would allow investors of workplace retirement funds to focus on environmentally friendly investments and cash in on companies combating climate change.”[1] |
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See also
- Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
- Economy and Society: Ballotpedia's ESG newsletter
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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