The DOL’s 2023 agenda: A new fiduciary rule and SECURE 2.0 guidance
Issuing a new fiduciary rule is a “huge priority,” as well as guidance on SECURE 2.0 and the ESG rule, said Lisa Gomez, assistant secretary of Labor for the Employee Benefits Security Administration, at a Spring Policy Forum.
Lisa Gomez has hit the ground running since being sworn in as assistant secretary of labor for the Employee Benefits Security Administration last fall. “I think that I’m bringing a different perspective to the agency, and we’re working really well together,” she said in remarks at the recent Employee Benefit Research Institute’s Spring Policy Forum.
Shortly after assuming her position, the U.S. Department of Labor finalized its ESG rule, which explicitly permits retirement plan fiduciaries to consider environmental, social and governance factors when selecting investments and exercising shareholder rights. The rule has faced significant political pushback, including two lawsuits filed in federal court
“We’re just hopeful that this rule means that people won’t have missed opportunities in order to increase their investment performance or be precluded from taking steps that can protect their savings from financial risk,” she said.
Gomez said her agency is focused on educating the public about the meaning of the rule, as well as how it applies to plan sponsors and fiduciaries. “I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to continue to get the message out and that the rule will have the intent it was supposed to.”
The Labor Department is considering a new proposal that could expand who is considered a fiduciary under ERISA by amending the regulatory definition of the term fiduciary. A court struck down a similar regulation in 2018. “Things have changed so much in the retirement market, and we are trying to acknowledge those changes and reflect how the system works best in this new world,” she said.
Related: Missing retirement plan participants/? DOL ramping up efforts to locate lost employees
Late last year, SECURE 2.0, the comprehensive retirement security package, was enacted. Gomez said she is working on several projects related to the act, including creating a lost-and-found database to help retirement savers who lost track of their 401(k) or pension plan find the contact information for their plan administrator. Another provision tasks the Labor Department, along with other regulatory agencies, to study disclosure requirements for plan sponsors and recommend ways to simplify, consolidate or standardize them.
She also addressed several implications of the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency. Health plans no longer are required to cover COVID-19 diagnostic tests at no cost to the consumer, including those purchased over the counter, but they may choose to continue doing so. For COVID-19 vaccines, health plans still must provide full coverage at no cost for in-network providers but may impose cost-sharing for out-of-network providers.