In the wee morning hours of March 23—just two hours after the midnight March 22 deadline—Congress completed the fraught process of funding the federal government’s discretionary spending for fiscal year (FY) 2024—six months after FY 2024 began this past October 1. President Biden signed the measure into law the same day. Despite hard lobbying, the final funding package excluded a rider that would have stopped the Department of Labor’s (DOL) work on its fiduciary rule.

On April 10, NAIFA met with the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) to express the association’s concerns about the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) proposed fiduciary rule. NAIFA reiterated its long-standing opposition to the rule, citing its probable impact on the accessibility and affordability of professional investment advice for middle-American retirement savers. Late that afternoon, OIRA sent the proposed rule back to DOL for finalization, canceling at least two subsequent previously scheduled stakeholder meetings.

On March 28, the Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services’ (HHS’) Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and Treasury released a final short-term limited-duration (STLD) health insurance rule. It retains the proposed rule’s new limits of three months duration, with a four-month renewal option for this kind of insurance.

A bicameral GOP resolution to block the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) now-final worker classification rule has been introduced. On March 21, the House Education and the Workforce Committee approved a Congressional Review Act (CRA) motion to block the rule.

On April 2, the Department of Labor (DOL) finalized its qualified plan asset manager (QPAM) rule. The rule is an amendment to prohibited transaction exemption (PTE) 84-14. The rule, which imposes broad disqualifying provisions on retirement plan asset managers who have been convicted of financial crime, takes effect June 17, 2024.

The Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and the Treasury Department have announced an extension, from April 22 to May 22, 2024, of the deadline for responses to its request for information (RFI) on the effectiveness of SECURE 2.0’s notice and disclosure requirements.

On March 8, the Department of Labor (DOL) sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for review its proposed new fiduciary rule. This is the last step in the regulatory process prior to finalization of a rule. OIRA is an agency within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), a White House agency.

Congress has passed, and President Biden has signed into law a “minibus” government funding bill that provides discretionary funding for six of the 12 required appropriations bills for fiscal year (FY) 2024. The new funding law, H.R.4366, does not include the industry-sought rider to prevent the Department of Labor (DOL) from further work on its proposed new fiduciary rule.

A bicameral GOP resolution to block the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) now-final worker classification rule has been introduced. Votes on it in both the House and Senate are expected later this month.

On February 14, a subcommittee of the House Education & the Workforce Committee held a hearing on the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) proposed new fiduciary rule. Generally, most witnesses and the subcommittee’s Republicans lambasted the proposed rule, saying it would adversely impact retirement savers.

The Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) proposed rule raising the salary threshold for the exemption for white-collar workers from minimum wage and overtime rules has gone to the White House (the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, or OIRA) for final review. OIRA review is the last step prior to finalization of the proposed rule.

A House Republican has introduced legislation to prevent the Department of Labor (DOL) from finalizing its proposed rule modifying the white-collar exemption to Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA’s) minimum wage and overtime (OT) rules. On February 15, Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO) introduced H.R.7367, the Overtime Pay Flexibility Act.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing on February 28 to examine how to increase retirement financial security through defined benefit (DB) plans, defined contribution (DC) plans, and Social Security. There was considerable focus on whether the Social Security wage base disproportionately taxes income that makes up the base of Social Security benefits. For example, one witness noted that when Social Security started, the wage base for lower income workers captured 2 percent of income whereas now it now captures 12.4 percent.

Business groups are fighting back against the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) proposed rescission of the rules governing association health plans (AHPs). The groups say AHPs are a way to make affordable health insurance accessible to small businesses and self-employed individuals.

On February 27, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee voted, 11 to 10 along party lines, to send President Biden’s renomination of Julie Su as Secretary of the Department of Labor (DOL) to the full Senate for a confirmation vote.

As of March 2024, 90% of states have adopted the NAIC Best Interest Model. Vermont, New Hampshire, California, and Indiana are the most recent states to align in uniformity with other states who enacted the NAIC Model. This milestone was achieved as the Department of Labor (DOL) chose to advance its proposed and revived fiduciary-only proposal, “Retirement Security Rule,” for review by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Unlike this proposal, the best interest standard adopted in 45 states, ensures that all savers, particularly financially vulnerable middle-income Americans, can access information about different choices for long-term security in retirement.

On January 19, the Department of Labor (DOL), Treasury, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) issued a Request for Information (RFI) on the disclosure requirements of SECURE 2.0. The agencies said they would use this input to “explore ways to make it easier for workers to understand their benefits.”

On January 2, NAIFA submitted comments to the Department of Labor (DOL) on its proposed fiduciary-only rule. The comments pointed out the harm the proposal would do to middle class retirement investors and to financial professionals who already put clients’ interests first. NAIFA recommended that the proposal be withdrawn.

Repeating their testimony at a DOL hearing last month in comments submitted to DOL, industry advocates told a January 10 House hearing that the DOL’s fiduciary-only proposed regulations must be withdrawn. Fifty House members wrote to DOL demanding the rule’s withdrawal. DOL must sift through 19,000+ comments on the rule.

On January 9, the Department of Labor (DOL) released its new, final independent contractor classification regulation. It largely follows the proposed rule, imposing an economic reality based on the totality of the circumstances test to determine whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor. It contains no industry or occupation exceptions or carve-outs. The rule is effective on March 11, 2024.