Skip to main content
MENU
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • LOGIN
  • Subscribe
  • Topics
    • Alternatives
    • Consultants
    • Coronavirus
    • Courts
    • Defined Contribution
    • ESG
    • ETFs
    • Face to Face
    • Hedge Funds
    • Industry Voices
    • Investing
    • Money Management
    • Opinion
    • Partner Content
    • Pension Funds
    • Private Equity
    • Real Estate
    • Russia-Ukraine War
    • SECURE 2.0
    • Special Reports
    • White Papers
  • Rankings & Awards
    • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
    • Top-Performing Managers
    • Largest Money Managers
    • DC Money Managers
    • DC Record Keepers
    • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
    • World's Largest Retirement Funds
    • Best Places to Work in Money Management
    • Excellence & Innovation Awards
    • WPS Innovation Awards
    • Eddy Awards
  • ETFs
    • Latest ETF News
    • Fund Screener
    • Education Center
    • Equities
    • Fixed Income
    • Commodities
    • Actively Managed
    • Alternatives
    • ESG Rated
  • ESG
    • Latest ESG News
    • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
    • ESG Sustainability - Gaining Momentum
    • Climate Change: The Inescapable Opportunity
    • Impact Investing
    • 2022 ESG Investing Conference
    • ESG Rated ETFs
  • Defined Contribution
    • Latest DC News
    • DC Money Manager Rankings
    • DC Record Keeper Rankings
    • Innovations in DC
    • Trends in DC: Focus on Retirement Income
    • 2022 Defined Contribution East Conference
    • 2022 DC Investment Lineup Conference
  • Searches & Hires
    • Latest Searches & Hires News
    • Searches & Hires Database
    • RFPs
  • Performance Data
    • P&I Research Center
    • Earnings Tracker
    • Endowment Returns Tracker
    • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
    • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
    • Pension Risk Transfer Database
    • Future of Investments Research Series
    • Charts & Infographics
    • Polls
  • Careers
  • Events
    • View All Conferences
    • View All Webinars
    • 2023 Defined Contribution East
    • 2023 ESG Investing
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. COURTS
September 16, 2019 04:12 PM

DOJ shows ‘interest’ in challenge to CalSavers program

Hazel Bradford
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Katie Selinski

    CalSavers Executive Director Katie Selenski said the program stands by its arguments and remains confident of a favorable ruling. 

    The federal government has told a U.S. District Court in California that it may get involved in a legal challenge to the CalSavers retirement program.

    In a Sept. 13 filing, the Department of Justice said it "has a heightened interest" in a 2018 lawsuit filed by the California-based Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association arguing that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act preempts the California Secure Choice Act, which established the CalSavers program.

    The CalSavers program, launched July 1, is a defined contribution plan for private-sector workers in California who do not have access to a retirement plan sponsored by their employers. It is required for all California employers with five or more employees that don't already offer a retirement program, and is will cover an estimated 7.5 million people.

    In a March 28 decision, U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. in Sacramento dismissed the association's lawsuit, saying that because the program only applies to employers without existing retirement plans, no ERISA plans are "governed" or "interfered" with.

    After the association amended its complaint in April, CalSavers asked the court to dismiss it.

    The Department of Justice said in the latest filing that its "statement of interest" does not constitute intervention in the case but argued that California's Secure Choice Act is preempted by ERISA for several reasons, including that it gives employers "the false choice of establishing an ERISA plan or maintaining California's equivalent," and "takes away the freedom of choice that lies at the core of ERISA."

    The DOJ filing also disputes CalSavers' argument that the Department of Labor has an ERISA safe harbor for voluntary IRA, because its automatic enrollment arrangement is not completely voluntary.

    The federal government's participation in the case "is highly symbolic," Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association senior staff attorney Laura E. Dougherty said in an interview.

    "We are just very pleased that they did present all of these arguments (about) why the program is illegal. If the program is illegal, then we are spending taxpayers' dollars on something that is illegal," she said. CalSavers is designed to eventually run at low or no cost to the state once fees begin to cover the costs but it was launched with a loan from California's general fund, and "you never know what happens with these general funds loans," Ms. Doughtery said.

    CalSavers Executive Director Katie Selenski said in an email: "We stand by our arguments and remain confident in the court's prior ruling in favor of CalSavers. On the advice of the Attorney General's Office, we won't comment further on this pending litigation."


    Related Articles
    Feds mulling involvement in CalSavers lawsuit
    Court dismisses challenge to CalSavers Secure Choice program
    CalSavers retirement program officially opens
    Recommended for You
    Empty Courtroom_i.jpg
    Securities class-action lawsuits down for third year in a row – report
    ONLINE_180539987_AR_0_AJVEYGQPKZAX.jpg
    Veterinary hospital company settles ERISA lawsuit for $1.5 million
    gavel_closeup_court_1550-main_i.jpg
    Judge allows part of ERISA case against CentraCare Health System to proceed
    The Institutional Investor's Guide to ESG Investing
    Sponsored Content: The Institutional Investor's Guide to ESG Investing

    Reader Poll

    January 25, 2023
    SEE MORE POLLS >
    Sponsored
    White Papers
    Show Me the Income: Discovering plan sponsor and participant preferences for cr…
    The Future of Infrastructure: Building a Better Tomorrow
    Fulcrum Issues: Equity Returns and Inflation — Choose Your Own Adventure
    What Matters Most in Considering a Private Debt Strategy
    Why pursue direct lending in the core middle market?
    Research for Institutional Money Management
    View More
    Sponsored Content
    Partner Content
    The Industrialization of ESG Investment
    For institutional investors, ETFs can make meeting liquidity needs easier
    Gold: the most effective commodity investment
    2021 Investment Outlook | Investing Beyond the Pandemic: A Reset for Portfolios
    Ten ways retirement plan professionals add value to plan sponsors
    Gold: an efficient hedge
    View More
    E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS

    Sign up and get the best of News delivered straight to your email inbox, free of charge. Choose your news – we will deliver.

    Subscribe Today
    December 12, 2022 page one

    Get access to the news, research and analysis of events affecting the retirement and institutional money management businesses from a worldwide network of reporters and editors.

    Subscribe
    Connect With Us
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn

    Our Mission

    To consistently deliver news, research and analysis to the executives who manage the flow of funds in the institutional investment market.

    About Us

    Main Office
    685 Third Avenue
    Tenth Floor
    New York, NY 10017-4036

    Chicago Office
    130 E. Randolph St.
    Suite 3200
    Chicago, IL 60601

    Contact Us

    Careers at Crain

    About Pensions & Investments

     

    Advertising
    • Media Kit
    • P&I Content Solutions
    • P&I Careers | Post a Job
    • Reprints & Permissions
    Resources
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • FAQ
    • P&I Research Center
    • Site map
    • Staff Directory
    Legal
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Request
    Pensions & Investments
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • Topics
      • Alternatives
      • Consultants
      • Coronavirus
      • Courts
      • Defined Contribution
      • ESG
      • ETFs
      • Face to Face
      • Hedge Funds
      • Industry Voices
      • Investing
      • Money Management
      • Opinion
      • Partner Content
      • Pension Funds
      • Private Equity
      • Real Estate
      • Russia-Ukraine War
      • SECURE 2.0
      • Special Reports
      • White Papers
    • Rankings & Awards
      • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
      • Top-Performing Managers
      • Largest Money Managers
      • DC Money Managers
      • DC Record Keepers
      • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
      • World's Largest Retirement Funds
      • Best Places to Work in Money Management
      • Excellence & Innovation Awards
      • WPS Innovation Awards
      • Eddy Awards
    • ETFs
      • Latest ETF News
      • Fund Screener
      • Education Center
      • Equities
      • Fixed Income
      • Commodities
      • Actively Managed
      • Alternatives
      • ESG Rated
    • ESG
      • Latest ESG News
      • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
      • ESG Sustainability - Gaining Momentum
      • Climate Change: The Inescapable Opportunity
      • Impact Investing
      • 2022 ESG Investing Conference
      • ESG Rated ETFs
    • Defined Contribution
      • Latest DC News
      • DC Money Manager Rankings
      • DC Record Keeper Rankings
      • Innovations in DC
      • Trends in DC: Focus on Retirement Income
      • 2022 Defined Contribution East Conference
      • 2022 DC Investment Lineup Conference
    • Searches & Hires
      • Latest Searches & Hires News
      • Searches & Hires Database
      • RFPs
    • Performance Data
      • P&I Research Center
      • Earnings Tracker
      • Endowment Returns Tracker
      • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
      • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
      • Pension Risk Transfer Database
      • Future of Investments Research Series
      • Charts & Infographics
      • Polls
    • Careers
    • Events
      • View All Conferences
      • View All Webinars
      • 2023 Defined Contribution East
      • 2023 ESG Investing