On March 19, House Education & the Workforce Committee Chair Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) wrote to Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer urging her to focus DOL on “neglected” regulatory issues like expansion of access to health care and a range of PBGC issues.
Rep. Walberg encouraged DOL to rescind the fiduciary rule. In addition, he urged DOL to revive the Association Health Plan (AHP) rule, as he also introduced legislation (the Association Health Plans Act, H.R.2528) to codify the first Trump Administration AHP rule that was shot down by the courts and then rescinded by the Biden Administration DOL.
Also on the list of priorities Rep Walberg urged DOL to address were withdrawal of overtime and independent contractor (worker classification) rules. There was also a raft of other issues (like, for example, workforce training, EBSA enforcement practices, and a range of Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) issues) included in the Walberg letter to Chavez-DeRemer.
Prospects: Most of the topics Rep. Walberg listed in his letter to DOL Secretary Chavez-DeRemer reflect general GOP and Trump-specific priorities. Thus most if not all of them are likely to be addressed in the upcoming two to four years.
NAIFA Staff Contact: Jayne Fitzgerald – Director – Government Relations, at jfitzgerald@naifa.org.