Compliance October 26, 2023

New House Speaker Mostly Unknown to Retirement Industry

Industry advocates have very little to say about Mike Johnson, good or bad, but another budget showdown could reveal his priorities.

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Mike Johnson

Representative Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, is the new Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, as of Wednesday. The House can now proceed with pending legislation and consideration of a budget for 2024 before the current continuing resolution to finance the government expires on November 17.

Johnson, first elected to the House in 2016, has served as deputy whip for House Republicans. He has had very little legislative contact with the financial and retirement industries, however.

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Michael Kreps, a principal in Groom Law Group and a former senior counsel for the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, notes that former Speaker John Boehner “was one of the lead architects of the Pension Protection Act, and [former] Speaker [Paul] Ryan had very public views on Social Security.”

Kreps adds that “this is the first time in a while that we have had a speaker without much of a track record on retirement issues.”

In 2020, while Chairman of the Republican Study Committee, Johnson supported guidance from the Department of Labor of then President Donald Trump that allowed defined contribution plans to invest in private equity if it was bundled into managed funds and not “on a standalone basis.”

Johnson served on House committees on armed services and judiciary, so his influence and experience beyond those sectors has been minimal. Perhaps the primary example of his influence on financial legislation was his co-sponsorship of 2022’s Protect Farmers From the SEC Act, which would prevent the Securities and Exchange Commission from requiring greenhouse gas emission disclosures in the agricultural industry.

Johnson will likely have to take a stance on retirement issues soon, however, as Kreps points out.

“As the Department of Labor rolls out new guidance, it is almost certain that House Republicans will respond, either with increased oversight or by legislating,” Kreps says.

The DOL is expected to issue a new fiduciary rule proposal by month’s end, one which already has received much industry pushback and will likely receive significant opposition from Congressional Republicans once it is formally released.

If Johnson’s hostility to the SEC’s climate disclosure, at least as applied to agriculture, is any indication of his general views on the SEC’s regulatory agenda, then he would likely take a similar view on other proposals which have been unpopular with House Republicans, such as: most of the market structure proposals; swing pricing; and the predictive analytics and conflicts of interest proposal. The DOL’s final rule on ESG investing would also likely be a target for legislation.

It remains to be seen how Johnson will handle the new regulations expected soon from the DOL on the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022, and he appears to be somewhat of an enigma to the retirement industry.

An emailed statement from the Insured Retirement Institute read, “Speaker Johnson has been a member of the House Judiciary and Armed Services Committees, and neither committee has our issues under their respective jurisdictions, so we haven’t had a lot of direct interaction with his office. We look forward to working with him to continue the bipartisan efforts to strengthen and enhance the retirement security of America’s workers and retirees.”

Benefits October 26, 2023

Time to Shine: Plan Sponsors Must Optimize Open Enrollment Window

Most participants procrastinate in reviewing their benefits, and many do it quickly. Plan sponsors need to communicate effectively and leverage educational tools, according to Voya.  

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A majority of Generation Z employees spend 30 minutes or less reviewing their workplace benefit information during open enrollment, according to new data from Voya Financial.  

While that may seem like little time, across all generations, Voya found that nearly half of employees spend 20 minutes or less reviewing benefits information, and many wait until the last minute to select their health and wellness options. 

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Voya compared that time with industry data showing the average American spends roughly two hours and seven minutes daily on social media content platforms. Nate Black, vice president of health product development at Voya, says that while social media has many advantages for staying connected to family, friends and other interests, one’s workplace benefits also deserve their “fair share of attention.” 

“As much as we would wish people spent as much time choosing their benefits as they do on social media, I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon,” Black says. “For plan sponsors, it’s really about how do we maximize that amount of time that we have somebody’s attention? [If] we get people’s attention for 20 minutes or 30 minutes each year, there’s a lot that you can provide from an educational perspective and a guidance perspective in that time.” 

Voya’s survey report stated that open enrollment is an important time for employees to pay attention. Beyond the traditional medical and dental plan, workplace benefits can include other meaningful offerings that employers are providing to help their employees address everything from out-of-pocket costs that come with a hospital stay to a disability that impacts one’s ability to work to, increasingly, mental health needs.  

Many employers often also cross-promote retirement and financial wellness benefits during open enrollment. 

In addition to the finding that workers spend little time reviewing their benefits information, the Voya survey also revealed that approximately 27% of employees are waiting to select their health and wellness options to within one week of their enrollment deadline.  

More than half of employees do select their benefits more than two weeks before their enrollment deadline. This number was highest among Gen Z (60%), as compared with Millennials (49%), Gen X (53%) and Baby Boomers (56%).  

This indicates that while Gen Z employees might spend little time reviewing their benefits information, overall interest in participation is actually high and greater than their peers, according to Voya. 

“As a result, employers have an opportunity to provide the guidance and resources to help all members of their workforce—particularly those who may want and need it most—make informed decisions,” the report stated.  

Black says providing guidance on benefits should not just occur during the window of open enrollment. 

“Sometimes what can happen is: [Plan sponsors] get this two or three-week period during the year, and it’s just a bit overwhelming,” Black says. “There can be an opportunity for plan sponsors to drip information throughout the year to highlight what’s coming, what has changed and the advantages of certain types of benefits throughout the year. Ongoing communication throughout the year sets people up for success once they get to open enrollment.” 

Black adds that plan sponsors should consider taking an “omnichannel approach” to communication about benefits. Instead of just sending an email or a letter in the mail, Black says it is beneficial to engage with people through a variety of different channels to optimize the limited time people spend thinking about benefits. 

“Different people are going to engage with those channels differently,” Black says. “Some people are going to prefer a text message, some people are going to prefer something in the mail delivered to their house that they can go through and peruse. … Benefits providers should be partnering with plan sponsors to think about what communication strategies are going to be most effective.” 

The Voya Financial Consumer Insights & Research survey was conducted with Morning Consult on September 22 and 23 and surveyed 710 U.S. adults who work full-time or part-time and are benefits-eligible. 

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