CONTACT YOUR SENATORS AND URGE THEM TO BE "FOR" THE PRO-ESOP POSITION
Senator Kelly Ayotte (R) of New Hampshire has proposed an amendment to S. 782 that would amend ERISA to make clear that appraisers of private company ESOP stock are not ERISA fiduciaries. She is joined by Senators Olympia Snowe (R) of Maine and Scott Brown of Massachusetts (R).
Their amendment would stop the DOL proposed regulation mandating all private company ESOP appraisers be ERISA fiduciaries. Briefly, if DOL has its way, all private ESOP companies would pay significantly higher fees for appraisals, there would be extreme confusion over whether the appraiser or the trustee[s] and other current fiduciaries make the decisions about acquisition of shares, and most troubling, would leave private ESOP companies sitting ducks anytime aggressive trial lawyers could find anyone upset over a share value determination. [See The ESOP Association website, and the 12 blog posts, about the harm the DOL proposal will do to the ESOP community if finalized.]
To read the amendment, CLICK HERE
Please call your Senators' offices, or call and get permission to send an email to the appropriate staff person who works on tax, labor, or retirement savings issues for the Senator, and urge them to be for S. AMDT 467 to S. 782 to reauthorize the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965.
Your message is: "I am ______ of (name of company) in (location) and I urge Senator _____ to be for Senator Ayotte's amendment number 467 to S. 782 to stop a very negative ESOP position being proposed by the Department of Labor." Call 202/224-3121 and ask for your Senators' offices.
If you live in New Hampshire, Maine, or Massachusetts, call the offices of Senators Ayotte, Snowe, and Brown and say, "Thank you, thank you!"
If needed, go to http://www.esopassociation.org/docs/255%20-%20DOL%20Proposal.doc to learn more about the DOL's proposed regulation.
If you want direct numbers for your Senators' offices, go the U.S. Senate, http://www.senate.gov, and click "Find Your Senator" in the upper right hand corner. The U.S. Senate website lists all Senators' office numbers.
No matter the final handling of the Ayotte amendment, it is extremely important that Senators hear the voice of the ESOP community, and that they are then more committed to making sure the current negative attitude towards ESOPs at DOL is dampened, if not silenced.