ERIC Urges Department of Labor to Act to Further Protect Employer Retirement Plans
For Immediate Release
Washington, DC – The following statement should be attributed to Will Hansen, Senior Vice President of Retirement and Compensation Policy, The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC):
“The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) is pleased that the United States Senate has passed a resolution fully repealing the Department of Labor rules that have allowed state governments to enact mandatory retirement plans that do not comply with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. ERIC applauds both the House and Senate for finding that these rules were overly broad and enabled state governments to infringe on retirement plans already offered by employers. We strongly encourage President Trump to sign the resolution.
ERIC wrote today to Labor Secretary Acosta urging him to act to protect employer retirement plans if states attempt to impose burdens on employers voluntarily providing retirement benefits.
While ERIC recognizes and supports policies that increase access to retirement plans, we believe the Labor Department rules over-reached, inappropriately allowing states to impose requirements on employers already offering retirement plans. Last month, Oregon finalized rules for their mandatory state-run retirement plan that requires employers who already provide a retirement plan to compile and report information with the state, which is in direct violation of ERISA preemption principles. Additional reporting requirements for employers that already provide a retirement plan will only deter employers from providing a retirement plan. We look forward to working with policymakers on increasing access to retirement plans without infringing on employers who already provide a quality retirement plan.
As the only national association that advocates exclusively for large employers on health, retirement, and compensation public policies at the state, federal, and local levels, ERIC is extremely concerned about recent state efforts to override or regulate employers who provide a plan subject to federal rules. State law must not interfere with federal law.”