JEFFERSON CITY – Missouri State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick has joined a coalition of 38 state financial officers and attorneys general in pushing back against continued Biden Administration efforts to force investment managers to make political decisions rather than financial decisions with regards to retirement savings accounts like 401Ks and pension plans.
Yesterday, the coalition filed comments on a Request for Information (RFI) from the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), a division of the United States Department of Labor. The RFI is in response to a 2021 Biden Administration Executive Order and a Proposed Rule that would allow investment managers to make investment decisions that prioritize politically driven environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors over their fiduciary responsibility to maximize returns for investors saving for retirement.
The new RFI attempts to lay groundwork to take matters a step further from prior Biden Administration actions and require investment managers to consider immaterial and speculative risks related to climate change for investment decisions on retirement accounts, and to report on their consideration of ESG factors in their stewardship and investment decision-making.
“The RFI irrationally singles out climate-related risk for special treatment. Under existing law and regulations, a fiduciary must base its evaluation of investment choices and courses of action based on risk and return factors that are material to investment value. And the current rules recognize that ESG factors could present material risk. But the RFI takes it a big step further: no longer would a plan fiduciary simply treat climate-related risk as any other risk. Instead, a plan fiduciary would specifically focus on climate-related risk in a variety of ways,” the public comment states.
“When hard-working Americans put their money into retirement accounts, they expect those tasked with managing the funds to prioritize maximizing returns to provide the financial security to the greatest extent possible when it is time to retire. What we have seen over the past 17 months is that the Biden Administration wants to undermine the fiduciary duty that people saving for retirement have relied upon for decades and force employers and investment managers to invest retirement income not on what is best for their employees, but in a way that promotes a social activist agenda,” Treasurer Fitzpatrick said. “Inflation caused by poor fiscal policy decisions is outpacing investment returns for millions of Americans. The Biden Administration should be focused on solving the many problems it has created rather than creating even more by weakening protections for Americans’ retirement funds. I will continue to push back in any way I can as Treasurer against this increasingly troublesome overreach.”
Treasurer Fitzpatrick is committed to fighting for Missourians. Earlier this year, he called on the Biden Administration to promote American Energy Production. In March, the Missouri State Employee’s Retirement System (MOSERS) Board of Trustees unanimously passed his motion to prevent the future acquisition of Russian holdings. He also fought back against JP Morgan Chase when actions indicated the largest bank in America was discriminating against customers based on political ideology. Last year, he also joined the West Virginia State Treasurer and other state financial officers opposing Biden Administration efforts to pressure banks to divest from coal, oil, and natural gas companies.
Treasurer Fitzpatrick serves on the Board of Trustees for the Missouri State Employees’ Retirement System. He is the National Vice Chair of the State Financial Officer’s Foundation.
The public comment on the Proposed Rule was led by Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, Utah State Treasurer Marlo Oaks, and Utah Auditor John Dougall. In addition, Treasurer Fitzpatrick was joined by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor, Alaska Commissioner of Revenue Lucinda Mahoney, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, Arizona State Treasurer Kimberly Yee, Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, Arkansas State Treasurer Dennis Milligan, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, Georgia Attorney General Christopher Carr, Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, Idaho State Treasurer Julie Ellsworth, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, Kentucky State Treasurer Allison Ball, Kentucky State Auditor Mike Harmon, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, Louisiana State Treasurer John Schroder, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, Mississippi State Treasurer David McRae, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, Nebraska Attorney General Douglas Peterson, Nebraska State Treasurer John Murante, North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell, North Dakota State Treasurer Thomas Beadle, Ohio Attorney General David Yost, Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor, Oklahoma State Treasurer Randy McDaniel, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, South Carolina State Treasurer Curtis Loftis, Jr., Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrissey, West Virginia State Treasurer Riley Moore, and Wyoming State Treasurer Curt Meier.
The RFI on Possible Agency Actions to Protect Life Savings and Pensions from Threats of Climate-Related Financial Risk can be found here. A copy of the public comment filed by the state financial officers can be found here.