A group of 18 Democratic members of the House of Representatives and another group of eight Senate Democrats have written separate letters to Labor Secretary Thomas Perez asking for an extension of the 75-day comment period for the agency's proposed fiduciary rule.
The requests echo concerns raised by industry stakeholders in a letter sent last month, which said the existing 75-day comment period won't give the financial services industry adequate time "to determine whether they can effectively service the needs of retirement investors within the framework presented in the proposal," according to that letter, which was signed by SIFMA, the ICI and the Financial Services Institute, among other interest groups.
Now, some Democrat lawmakers agree.
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"The proposal differs greatly from the 2010 proposal and will have a large impact on retirement investors and the financial services industry," wrote the 18 Democrats in the House of Representatives' letter. Frederica Wilson, R-Florida, who is member of the Congressional Black Caucus and represents North Miami, was the letter's lead author.
Like industry stakeholders, the House Democrats are asking for a 45-day extension to the comment period.
"Considering the importance, scope, and increased size of this proposal, it is vital that our constituents, Congress, and all other interested parties have the have the opportunity to fully understand all of these changes prior to providing the Department feedback regarding the proposal," wrote lawmakers from the House of Representatives.
In the Senate, nine Democrats, led by Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, sent a similar letter to Sec. Perez last week.
The National Federation of Independent Business also wrote Labor last week, requesting a 45-day comment period extension.
In 2010, when the DOL first proposed a new fiduciary standard, an initial comment period of 90 days was extended another two weeks after industry requested more time.
Before the lawmakers weighed in last week, Sec. Perez was insistent the existing comment period is sufficient.
After industry stakeholders requested their extension in April, Perez told ThinkAdvisor the 75-day comment period is enough, because it follows 18 months of "informal outreach" to industry.
"That's a long time that we've provided, and we'll make sure we've heard people's voices," Perez said.
By the end of last week, a consortium of proponents of the new fiduciary rule had sent their own letter to Sec. Perez, urging him to resist lawmakers' bid to extend the comment period.
"There is no justification for further delay in the effort to close loopholes in the DOL's outdated rules that are costing American workers and retirees tines of billions of dollars annually," wrote members of the Save Our Retirement Coalition, which includes the AARP, AFL-CIO, the Consumer Federation of America and the Pension Rights Center.
"Every American expects and deserves retirement investment advice that is in their best interest, and that is simply and fundamentally what the DOL is seeking to endure," said the proponents of Labor's rule.
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Nick Thornton
Nick Thornton is a financial writer covering retirement and health care issues for BenefitsPRO and ALM Media. He greatly enjoys learning from the vast minds in the legal, academic, advisory and money management communities when covering the retirement space. He's also written on international marketing trends, financial institution risk management, defense and energy issues, the restaurant industry in New York City, surfing, cigars, rum, travel, and fishing. When not writing, he's pushing into some land or water.
