House Speaker Ryan Weighs in on Advice Rule

Speaker of the House and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan calls the fiduciary rule “Obamacare for financial planning … the new, disastrous fiduciary rule.” 

While agreeing it is a good idea for people to have access to sound advice in the workplace, delivered in their best interests with disclosures for any conflicts of interest, Ryan says the forthcoming rule is “an example of massive overkill by the federal government.” It should be noted that Republicans in Congress, now led by Ryan, have so far failed in all their attempts to slow or alter the rulemaking. Given that President Obama is aiming to have the rule fully implemented by the close of his presidency, and would clearly veto any anti-fiduciary rule reaching his desk without a super majority, it is very hard to see how they could stall the rulemaking in coming months. 

Still, Ryan contends the rule will require an “enormous” amount of paper and make recordkeeping more expensive. Jobs will killed, he says, and people will be unable to get needed advice.

Last month, Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia) proposed legislation to amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act definitions of and exemptions for investment advice. 

Republicans are also claiming that requests for data collection from the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) are ill-timed, and indicate the DOL does not know enough about how people make retirement decisions.  

Ryan’s commentary is on his website.