Warren also pledged to examine reforms tolaws such as ERISA so that "they do not preempt positiveexperimentation by states and municipalities around issues ofeconomic security and worker benefits." (Photo: CallaghanO'Hare/Bloomberg)

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., vows to restore the LaborDepartment's vacated fiduciary rule if she is elected president.

In a 14-page labor manifesto released Thursday,Warren states that as part of her plan to defend worker pensionsand other retirement savings, she will restore the Labor Department's fiduciary rule that wasvacated by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit "that theTrump administration delayed and failed to defend incourt, so that brokers can't cheat workers out of their retirementsavings."

A coalition of industry groups fought the rule in court, arguing that the rulewas inconsistent with existing laws; that Labor had overreached toregulate services and providers beyond its authority; that Laborwas imposing legally unauthorized contract terms to enforce the newregulations and violating the First Amendment; and that the rulegave arbitrary and capricious treatment to variable and fixedindexed annuities. The 5th Circuit found merit in many of thesearguments, and the Trump Labor Department did not appeal.

Warren says her administration will also "recognize the value ofdefined-benefit pensions, and on multi-employer pensions, I willpush to pass the Butch-Lewis Act to create a loanprogram for the most financially distressed pension plans in thecountry."

She vows to "work with labor leaders, policy experts, fundcounsel, actuaries, and benefits specialists to improve the pensionsystem and to devise policy for financially challenged plans thatare not in immediate distress."

As to workplace retirement plans, Warren pledged to examinereforms to laws like the Employee Retirement Income Security Actand the National Labor Relations act so that "they do not preemptpositive experimentation by states and municipalities around issuesof economic security and worker benefits," Warren said. "Strategicrevisions to these federal statutes could promote the ability ofstates and cities to improve conditions for workers withoutweakening substantive worker protections."

While the proposal does not specify which policy areas Warren isreferring to, the American Retirement Association states in arecent brief that "one likely area is the efforts by various statesand cities (including New York City) to require private sectoremployers that do not offer retirement plan coverage to participatein a state- or city-run auto-IRA or similar program for theirworkers."

Said ARA: "While other candidates have put forward variouslabor-related proposals, Warren's appears to be the first among theleading Democratic presidential candidates to address ERISApreemption and it adds a new salvo in the ongoing debate overwhether such plans are preempted."

READ MORE:

• Fiduciary rule dies: 5th Circuit denies AARP,states' bid to defined rule
• With fiduciary rule's demise, plan sponsors shiftfocus elsewhere
• Reverting to old fiduciary guidance raises newquestions for recommendations