Opposition to the White House-backed proposed definition of a fiduciary financial advisor continues to grow on Capitol Hill.
On Tuesday, the House Committee on Appropriations released its spending draft proposal for 2016, which contains language blocking funding for the Department of Labor’s fiduciary proposal.
The draft fiscal year 2016 Labor, Health and Human Services (LHHS) funding bill restricts funding to the Labor Department around any activities related to its fiduciary proposal that would implement restrictions for financial advisors working with clients' retirement accounts.
“None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to finalize, implement, administer, or enforce the proposed Definition of the Term ‘’Fiduciary’’; Conflict of Interest Rule—Retirement Investment Advice regulation published by the Department of Labor in the Federal Register on April 20, 2015,” Tuesday’s draft bill states.
The committee is scheduled to markup the bill on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Tom Donohue, CEO of The Chamber of Commerce, also weighed in opposing the DOL’s proposal in a blog post published Monday. "Good intentions do not guarantee good regulations. Unintended consequences often eclipse the improvements a rule aims to make, ultimately causing more harm than good. Such is the case with the Department of Labor's (DOL's) proposed fiduciary duty rule,” he wrote.
This all comes as Labor Secretary Tom Perez is scheduled to testify on the proposed fiduciary rule before a House Education and the Workforce subcommittee on Wednesday. Fidelity Investment’s Jack Haley, Davis & Harman partner Kent Mason, Better Markets President Dennis Kelleher and Dr. Brian Reid, chief economist for the Investment Company Instutite, are also set to testify at the hearing.
