The U.S. Impact Investing Alliance is encouraged by the Biden-Harris Administration's continued support for the financial security of American workers. Today, President Biden vetoed a politically motivated attempt to reverse a Department of Labor (DOL) rule that allows the consideration of financially relevant environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in certain retirement savings plans.
“President Biden showed strong leadership by standing up for the rights of millions of current and future retirees,” said Fran Seegull, President of the Alliance.
“The DOL’s rule is ultimately about clarity and accountability - clarity for pensions to consider all financially relevant factors, and accountability to retirement savers,” Seegull continued.” This decision to protect people’s retirement savings from politically motivated attacks shows that the Biden-Harris Administration stands with workers and is committed to their financial security.”
The Alliance joins business and investor leaders and members of the Coalition on Inclusive Economic Growth in applauding the President’s veto. Read more from our Coalition partners below.
ASBN: “The American Sustainable Business Network applauds President Biden’s veto of the Congressional Review Act (CRA). We were strong proponents of the US Department of Labor’s Final Rule of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) which empowered plan fiduciaries to safeguard the savings of America's workers by clarifying that fiduciaries may consider climate change and other environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors when they make investment decisions and when they exercise shareholder rights, including voting on shareholder resolutions and board nominations.
We are not the first organization to acknowledge the political motivation behind the CRA and push for our elected officials on both sides of the aisle to align toward the common goal of financial health and security for American workers and their retirement savings. The Department of Labor’s common sense approach to the final rule rightfully allows for consideration of relevant ESG factors allowing fiduciaries to uphold their duties to their clients.” - David Levine, Co-Founder & President, American Sustainable Business Network
B Lab U.S. & Canada: "President Biden did the right thing by vetoing Resolution 8. The new rules ensure retirement plan managers can appropriately consider and manage E.S.G.-related financial risks and better protect Americans’ retirement saving accounts. As the B Corp Community has demonstrated, focusing on environmental and social issues can contribute to financial performance for shareholders and beneficiaries, while also creating a positive impact on stakeholders, particularly underserved and marginalized communities who benefit the most." - Jorge Fontanez, CEO, B Lab U.S. & Canada
Public Private Strategies: “Business leaders support President Biden’s veto of this anti-ESG resolution. The business community needs to be able to consider all relevant factors that affect business performance – which could include the economic risk of climate change and other issues considered under the umbrella of ESG – in their investment decisions.
The resolution seeks to reimpose ideological restrictions on what factors fiduciaries can consider when making investment decisions. Business leaders know that in order for our free market system to flourish, businesses need to be able to make financial decisions that are best for their investors without ideological interference from the government.
That’s why the ESG rule that President Biden protected with this veto doesn’t compel any fiduciary to consider ESG, it simply ensures that they are allowed to do so." - Rhett Buttle, Founder and Principal of Public Private Strategies
Rights CoLab: “The DOL’s final rule, which Resolution 8 sought to overturn, is aimed at mitigating the risks of large losses caused by environmental, social, and governance factors. We applaud President Biden's veto decision. It demonstrates a clear commitment of the Biden-Harris Administration to move away from political attacks and prioritize smart regulation that allows plan fiduciaries to consider all risk factors that impact investments and thereby ensure the financial security of current and future retirees.” - Joanne Bauer and Paul Rissman, CoFounders, Rights CoLab
The Alliance looks forward to continuing our work with the Administration and partners across the field to advocate for common sense policies that enable transparency and choice for investors. For more information on this issue, refer to the Alliance’s 2021 letter in support of the rule, in addition to a letter along with over 20 business, investor and nonprofit members of the Coalition on Inclusive Economic Growth.