Lisa Gomez DOL Nomination Hearing
Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
Department of Labor Nominations Hearing
Thursday, October 7, 2021
Witnesses
- Lisa Gomez, to be the Assistant Secretary for Employee Benefits Security, Department of Labor
Opening Statements
Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.)
In her opening statement, Murray discussed the importance of Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and its efforts to address threats to families’ financial security, the growing array of cybersecurity threats, and the multi-employer pension crisis, help plan participants recover benefits they are owed, and support healthcare protections.
Ranking Member Richard Burr (R-N.C.)
In his opening statement, Burr critiqued the reconciliation bill and discussed social security insolvency, cuts to retirement benefits, and the state of Medicare. He then recounted the history of the Committee’s bipartisanship and the need to protect the system of faith-based health providers.
Testimony
Lisa Gomez to be the Assistant Secretary for Employee Benefits Security, Department of Labor
In her testimony, Gomez said she is committed to protecting the participants and beneficiaries in America’s employee benefit plans and ensuring the security of retirement, health, and other workplace related benefits of American workers and families. Gomez said she was raised in a working-class family and the first to attend college. In law school, she learned about the struggle to protect America’s workers and their hard-earned benefits. From her parents, who worked at a local uniform supply company and a small printing shop, she learned many employees do not have basic workplace protections. Gomez said she has spent the last 27 years, her entire legal career, representing employee benefit plans, helping workers understand their benefits, and counseling plan sponsors to understand their responsibilities. She concluded that her experience with employees and employers in a broad range of industry has given her a better understanding how to best serve the people.
Question & Answer
Women’s Retirement
Murray asked Gomez how she would address some of the challenges women face in saving for retirement. Gomez said she would work with congress to better understand and address women’s retirement challenges to ensure women have more financial security in retirement.
Multiemployer Pension Plans
Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) asked Gomez what she will do to address implementation challenges seen in the multiemployer pension plans. Gomez said she expects to be fully briefed on the status of the rule making process and work with other departments to implement a program with appropriate safeguards, so that plans entitled to this relief will receive the assistance they need.
Small Business Retirement Plans
Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Co.) said cost is a main concern among small business owners when setting up retirement plans and asked how to best streamline costs. Gomez said it is important to make sure small business owners are educated and aware of all the tools available to them, and to dispel any myths about the burdens in offering retirement plans. She added that to the extent that there are any burdens, small business owners should be offered cost effective solutions without imposing a detriment on the participants and beneficiaries.
Fiduciaries
Sen. Thomas Tuberville (R-Ala.) asked Gomez what it means to be a fiduciary as defined by ERISA. Gomez said there is a five-part test, determining who is a fiduciary in different contexts is a point of contention, and she looks forward to being briefed on the efforts to look at the definition of fiduciary in different contexts and how the Conflict of Interest Rule is applied in different situations. Tuberville asked Gomez if a fiduciary should act in the best interest of investors and work to max investors’ total return on a risk adjusted basis. Gomez said that fiduciaries have various duties, one of which is to act in the best interest of investors, but that she would need to look at the circumstances of a given situation to answer the question of how a fiduciary should act in the best interest of investors, which is the cornerstone of fiduciary responsibility.
The EMPOWERS Act
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) asked Gomez if she would commit to give workers more power and say over their retirement saving to ensure that their fiduciaries are considering investors’ long-term, rather than short-term, business interests. Gomez said she would commit to work with Baldwin to better understand the implications of existing rules and how Baldwin’s EMPOWERS Act could play a part, with a focus on making sure fiduciaries act in the long-term interests of investors.
Mental Health Parity Compliance
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) mentioned additional authorities to assess whether providers are complying with the Mental Health Parity Compliance Act and asked how to maximize oversight given the staff limitations. Gomez said this would likely be one of the first briefings she receives and said it is a huge priority for the Administration and Secretary of Labor to make mental health parity a priority. She added they are seeing the need for more enforcement in that area and looks forward to working towards that.
Pension Risk Transfers
Murphy expressed concerns around a practice where private equity firms buy up pension liabilities and transfer them into annuities and look to profit off of the spread. Gomez said she is familiar with the issue and looks forward to working with members to see what needs to be done to work in the interest of workers.
For more information on this hearing, please click here.