Last week, Senator Bill Cassidy (LA) introduced The Restoring Integrity in Fiduciary Duty Act, which aims to prevent retirement plan fiduciaries from considering ESG factors in their investment decisions. The anti-responsible investing bill aligns with the RETIRE Act, which passed the House earlier in September. At a press call hosted by Unlocking America’s Future after the vote, Rep. Juan Vargas (CA-52) asserted that the RETIRE Act and other similar bills are “going nowhere.” Rep. Sean Casten (IL-06) also noted during the press call that the bills’ state versions “have lost billions of dollars for fiduciaries in states like Texas … If states are the laboratories of democracy, then we are taking the wrong lessons from the anti-woke agenda.”
Similar to the sponsors of the House anti-ESG legislation, Sen. Cassidy has taken nearly $2 million in lifetime campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry.
In response to Sen. Cassidy’s bill, Unlocking America’s Future Spokesperson Kyle Herrig issued the following statement:
“At a time when Congress should be focused on the important issues keeping hardworking, everyday Americans up at night, Senator Cassidy has decided to waste taxpayer resources and introduce anti-ESG legislation that will not pass and that the majority of Americans across party lines do not support. We have seen in states like Texas and Oklahoma the harmful effects of limiting investors’ freedoms to choose where their money goes, including on the financial security of retirees. Given the overwhelming evidence that shows these bills are harmful, and that Americans are unsupportive, we’re left with the conclusion that Sen. Cassidy is simply appeasing his billionaire donors from the oil and gas industry, who have also funded a shady network of extreme organizations working to dismantle responsible investing.”
