House Holds Hearing on DOL Regulatory Overreach

The Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions of the House Committee on Education & the Workforce held a hearing Feb. 15 on “Protecting American Savers and Retirees from DOL’s Regulatory Overreach.”

Appearing before the committee were representatives from the Iowa Insurance Division, the Groom Law Group, and the Insured Retirement Institute who testified against the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule actions. The president of the Public Investors Advocate Bar Association testified in support of the rule.

Of particular interest were comments from Doug Ommen, Iowa insurance commissioner, who made clear that the DOL did not consult with state insurance regulators on creating and implementing the new fiduciary standard, justifying it by discrediting the efforts of state insurance regulators but providing no evidence of any need for it.

NAMIC has filed comments with the DOL opposing the rule.