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Could Congress Cut Off Funding for the Fiduciary Proposal?

A House bill would stop the Department of Labor’s fiduciary proposal by cutting off funding to implement the measure.

The measure was included by the House Appropriations Committee in the draft fiscal year 2016 Labor, Health and Human Services funding bill, and the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee considered it on June 17. The legislation includes funding for programs within the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education and other related agencies.

The bill provides a total of $11.7 billion for the Labor Department — $206 million below the fiscal year 2015 enacted level and $1.4 billion below President Obama’s request. In a summary of the bill, the provision dealing with the fiduciary proposal is included under a section titled “Reducing Harmful Red Tape.” The language itself says simply, “None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to finalize, implement, administer, or enforce the proposed Definition of the Term ‘‘Fiduciary’’; Conflict of Interest Rule—Retirement Investment Advice regulation published by the Department of Labor in the Federal Register on April 20, 2015 (80 Fed. Reg. 21928 11 et seq.).”

Will it matter? A similar rider attached to last year’s omnibus funding bill for fiscal 2015 fell short. As for this year, while the full House might approve the appropriations bill, it seems unlikely to make it through the Senate.