Southern Wisconsin Times

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed Congressman Bryan Steil’s (WI-01) Protecting Americans’ Retirement Savings from Politics Act (H.R. 4767). This measure is part of a broader investor reform package (H.R. 4790) and aims to improve the shareholder proposal and proxy voting advice process, emphasizing retirement savings over political considerations.

Following the vote, Rep. Steil stated, “Time and again, proxy advisors have pushed professional investors to vote contrary to retirement savers’ economic interests. Investment advisors, pension funds, and asset managers voting American retirement savers’ shares should be focused on securing your retirement, not advancing their political agenda."

Steil added that his bill would "regulate proxy advisors and bring accountability and transparency to stop the politicization of retirement investments." He expressed pride in the majority support from his colleagues in the House for measures aimed at enhancing retirement security, corporate governance, and common sense.

Key provisions of the Protecting Americans’ Retirement Savings from Politics Act include:

- Providing transparency and accountability within the proxy advisory industry.

- Prohibiting robovoting.

- Requiring clients of proxy advisory firms to issue annual public reports on their proxy voting activities.

- Improving shareholder proposal processes to prioritize retirement security over political issues.

- Mandating large asset managers to explain their use of proxy advisor recommendations while prioritizing customers' economic interests.

The legislation will now advance to the Senate for consideration.