Compliance September 12, 2022

ERISA’s 48th Anniversary Passes Without a Senate Vote on EBSA Head

Despite push from HELP Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray, Lisa Gomez’s nomination as assistant secretary of labor remains in limbo.

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On September 6, Senator Patty Murray, D-Washington, published a press release and accompanying resolution calling for the confirmation of Lisa Gomez as assistant secretary of labor for the Employee Benefits Security Administration and emphasizing the importance of Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

Murray, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Education Committee, noted in the release that approximately 142 million employees are covered by ERISA, as well as 730,000 employer-sponsored plans.

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Gomez was nominated in July 2021, and failed a confirmation vote on June 8 of this year because Vice President Kamala Harris was not present in the chamber to break the 50-50 tie.

Ali Khawar has been acting assistant secretary since March 2021. David Levine of Groom Law explains that there is no limit on Khawar’s authority relative to what Gomez’s will be if she is confirmed. He says “they can keep moving forward,” and notes that “EBSA is pretty active.”

There has been some Republican opposition to Gomez’s confirmation. Ranking committee member Senator Richard Burr, R-North Carolina, did not offer specific comment on his opposition during Gomez’s confirmation hearing before the committee.

Senator Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, hinted at one potential source of Republican opposition during the hearing when he asked, “Do you agree that a fiduciary should always act in the best economic interests of investors and work to maximize the investor’s total return on a risk-adjusted basis?”

Although Tuberville did not mention environmental, social and governance investments specifically, he is from a state whose attorney general was among the 19 who recently issued a joint letter to Blackrock criticizing the firm for using state pension fund assets in ESG investments. The letter asserts that ESG investing does not maximize returns on investment and does not satisfy the firm’s fiduciary duty, and instead only advances a “climate agenda.”

Tuberville’s office could not be reached for comment.

Lisa Gomez has been endorsed by the AFL-CIO, a federation of unions that traditionally supports Democrats and endorsed Joe Biden for president in 2020.

Ryan Meyers, a spokesperson with Senator Murray’s office, says there is no timetable for another floor vote on Lisa Gomez’s nomination. However, Dan Zielinski of the Insured Retirement Institute says he expects Gomez to be confirmed by the end of the year.

Benefits September 12, 2022

Starbucks Launches New Worker Benefits

Employees will be eligible for two new benefit programs this month.  

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Beginning next week, Starbucks employees will have access to new benefits for financial stability, including a student loan management program.

According to a press release, the Seattle-based company, in partnership with Fidelity Investments, will launch the student loan program and an emergency savings program on Monday, September 19.

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Amid rising inflation, employees are grappling with several financial challenges, and workers are asking for additional benefits, said Ron Crawford, vice president of global benefits at Starbucks, in the release.   

“We’ve heard from our [employees] and know that pressures of inflation, in addition to debt and savings, are weighing heavily on them,” he said. “Providing industry-leading benefits … is a cornerstone of who we are as a company. [T]ogether … we knew we had an opportunity to further support the financial well-being of our partners and their families.”

The new benefits aim to bolster employees’ financial stability by helping workers to manage their higher education debt and to set aside emergency savings.

Starbucks will launch My Starbucks Savings, a program designed to help employees save for the unexpected. Employees will be able to contribute a portion of  after-tax pay from their paycheck to an individual savings account. Starbucks will incentivize employees to participate by contributing $25 and $50 credits at savings milestones, up to a total of $250 per incentive-eligible partner, according to the release.  

“Too many Americans are unprepared financially to handle the unexpected, and this current economic environment only makes it more important to help people establish solid savings behaviors and foundation to cover short-term expenses,” Kevin Barry, president of workplace investing at Fidelity Investments, said in the release. “As this program demonstrates, employers are in a position to help, which is why Fidelity is pleased to work with Starbucks and other companies to provide savers with a path to achieving their financial goals, such as emergency savings.”

The multinational chain of coffeehouses and roasters will also launch a student loan management benefit, through Tuition.io, to aid workers with student loan debt. The program will help student loan debtors manage and optimize their student loan payments with tools and resources including repayment options and loan refinancing, according to the release. 

The program will provide access to platform tools that allow users to view their student loan debt in one place and to know the next best step to take based on their personal repayment scenario and goals. Workers in the program may be eligible to take advantage of income-based repayment options and refinancing, as well as planning for how to finance higher education for college-bound students and parents of students.

“Student loan debt remains a tremendous financial burden for the nearly 48 million U.S. consumers who have borrowed to finance the education necessary to unlock the best career opportunities,” added Scott Thompson, CEO of Tuition.io, in the release. “As we approach the time when payments will be restarted for federal loans, we’re honored to work with Starbucks to support their partners and their families make the best financial decisions regarding repayment of their student loans and options for financing their future education.”

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