Lynn C. Woolsey: “Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2269 is a prime example of how a good idea can be turned into a bad bill. It is a good idea to make…”

“Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2269 is a prime example of how a good idea can be turned into a bad bill. It is a good idea to make investment advice available to employees at their workplace. Of course it is a good idea. But allowing self-interested advisors, those who could benefit from the advice they give, in the workplace is not a good idea; it is an extremely bad idea. But that is exactly what H.R. 2269 does. Please remember why ERISA was enacted in the first place. It was enacted to protect workers from abuses related to their benefits. So ERISA now prohibits investment advisors from coming to a workplace and providing employees with investment advice if there is any reason to think that the advisor might benefit from recommending one investment or another. ERISA was enacted to protect workers from abuses related to their benefits, and this protection has worked for over 25 years. But with H.R. 2269, we are saying that it is okay to have investment sales folks at the workplace under the guise of the employer's endorsement providing investment advice to their employees.”