Warren Vows to Resurrect Obama-Era DOL Fiduciary Rule

She vows to "work with labor leaders, policy experts, fund counsel, actuaries, and benefits specialists to improve the pension system and to devise policy for financially challenged plans that are not in immediate distress."

As to workplace retirement plans, Warren pledged to examine reforms to laws like the Employee Retirement Income Security act and the National Labor Relations act so that "they do not preempt positive experimentation by states and municipalities around issues of economic security and worker benefits," Warren said. "Strategic revisions to these federal statutes could promote the ability of states and cities to improve conditions for workers without weakening substantive worker protections."

While the proposal does not specify which policy areas Warren is referring to, the American Retirement Association states in a recent brief that "one likely area is the efforts by various states and cities (including New York City) to require private sector employers that do not offer retirement plan coverage to participate in a state- or city-run auto-IRA or similar program for their workers."

Said ARA: "While other candidates have put forward various labor-related proposals, Warren's appears to be the first among the leading Democratic presidential candidates to address ERISA preemption and it adds a new salvo in the ongoing debate over whether such plans are preempted."

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