Politics
Your Retirement Savings: Obama Proposal
(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Jim Kuhnhenn, ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is proposing tougher restrictions on brokers who manage Americans’ retirement accounts, reigniting a confrontation with the financial services industry over rules affecting trillions of dollars in 401k and other savings accounts.
The change would put brokers — who sell stocks, bonds, annuities and other investments — under the stricter requirements for registered financial advisers when they handle clients’ retirement accounts.
In a long-anticipated move, the Labor Department is making the proposal Monday to the White House Budget Office. After an internal review, it likely will be put out for public comment for several months. Obama was scheduled to address the AARP later Monday to draw attention to the plan.
The rule has been the subject of intense behind-the-scenes lobbying, pitting major Wall Street firms and financial industry groups against a coalition of labor, consumer groups and retiree advocates such as the AARP.
The administration first proposed a regulation in 2010, but pulled it back following an industry outcry that the proposal would hurt rather than help investors by limiting choices.
To buttress the new effort, the White House on Monday released a 30-page report from its Council of Economic Advisers noting that an estimated $1.7 trillion of individual retirement account assets are invested in products that pay fees or commissions that pose conflicts of interest.
“When you go to a doctor or a lawyer, you expect the advice you get to be in your best interests. But the same doesn’t always hold true in the world of retirement savings,” Labor Secretary Tom Perez said in a conference call with reporters. “Many financial advisers have taken an oath to serve your best interests, but there are other financial advisers and brokers who provide critical financial advice every day and are not obligated to look out for your best interests.”
Americans increasingly are seeking financial advice to help them navigate an array of options for retirement, college savings and more. Many people provide investment advice, but not all of them are required to disclose potential conflicts of interest.
Under current rules, brokers are required to recommend only “suitable” investments based on the client’s finances, age and how much risk is appropriate for him or her. The rules would make brokers handling retirement accounts obligated to put their clients’ interests first.
The chairman of Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, Jason Furman, pointed to academic studies that conclude investors who receive investment recommendations potentially influenced by conflicts of interest sustain a 1 percentage point lower return on their retirement savings, totaling losses of $17 billion every year to middle-class families.
Industry officials dispute those studies and say the industry is well governed by financial regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission. They say the Department of Labor is ill suited to write rules best left to agencies more familiar with the financial industry.
“You have the Department of Labor, which really doesn’t know this area,” said Ira Hammerman, general counsel for the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, the brokerage industry’s big lobbying group. “Our concern is they are not going to get it right, just like they did not get it right in 2010.”
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said the proposed protections are overdue, noting that much of the current regulatory regime was set before 401ks and IRAs gained prominence as retirement savings vehicles. He predicted a difficult path to a final rule, however, given the financial industry’s opposition.
Meanwhile, the SEC is studying the broader investment advice industry to determine whether it should come under further regulations. Critics of the Labor Department effort say the Obama administration should leave the regulations to the SEC or it will risk limiting the advice available to investors with relatively small retirement savings.
“Investors benefit from choice; choice of products, and choice in advice providers,” SEC Commissioner Daniel Gallagher, a critic of the Labor Department proposal, said in a speech Friday. “This is something the nanny state has a hard time comprehending.”
Perez and Jeff Zients, director of the White House National Economic Council, said administration officials have been consulting with SEC Chairman Mary Jo White, financial industry officials and consumer groups.
Zients said the proposed rule would be “very different” from the restrictions the administration proposed in 2010.
“Much has been learned since then,” he said.
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Associated Press writer Marcy Gordon contributed to this report.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Community
Four Candidates, Including Incumbent Barbara Lee, Qualify for Oakland Mayor’s Race
POST NEWS GROUP — Four candidates, including incumbent Mayor Barbara Lee, filed their papers to run for office by last Friday’s deadline, and the City Clerk issued a list this week of those who are qualified to run.
The four mayoral candidates who will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot are:
Brenda Grisham. A business owner in East Oakland and public safety advocate, Grisham led the successful recall campaign against Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price. As part of her platform, she pledges to work with local, state, and federal partners to secure stricter gun control measures and investments in community violence intervention programs.
Barbara Lee. A former congressional representative and state Assembly member, Lee was elected by voters in a special election last year for a two-year term. Now running for a four-year term, she points out that her administration achieved major successes in addressing some of the city’s major challenges, including balancing the city budget, dramatically reducing crime, and making significant inroads into homelessness and illegal dumping.
Mindy Pechenuk. An educator and activist, Pechenuk is a registered Republican and supporter of Lyndon LaRouche, who has been described by observers as a conspiracy theorist and cult leader. She ran unsuccessfully for mayor in last year’s special election and for the at-large council seat in 2024. She seeks to end Oakland’s police commission and MACRO and invest in more police while launching a new local war on drugs.
Julius Robinson. While little information is available so far about Robinson, he was quoted in a KTVU story about Thao’s recall, stating that people in Oakland want to come together as a community but lack infrastructure and leadership.
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of August 12 – 18, 2026
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of August 12 – 18, 2026
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Commentary
COMMENTARY: Why Local School Tax Measure G1 Will Not Be on the November Ballot
POST NEWS GROUP — Measure G1 is the local tax measure that supports middle school teacher retention and the expansion of arts, music, and world language programs at both OUSD middle schools and charter middle schools. The current measure expires in 2029.
There has been considerable speculation recently about why Measure G1 will not appear on the November ballot and what that means for the Oakland Unified School District’s current budget.
I want to provide some clarity about what happened and, importantly, what did not happen.
Measure G1 is the local tax measure that supports middle school teacher retention and the expansion of arts, music, and world language programs at both OUSD middle schools and charter middle schools. The current measure expires in 2029.
Because these funds are important to our schools and to the continuity of these programs, the district initially intended to place a renewal initiative on the November ballot to provide greater early certainty about funding beyond the expiration of the current measure.
As part of that process, the Board scheduled a special meeting for the required public hearing on the ballot initiative. There has been some suggestion that this meeting was noticed only one day in advance. That is not accurate.
Public hearings of this nature are subject to specific notice requirements, and the meeting must be noticed at least two weeks before the hearing. In practice, the notice may appear even earlier depending on publication schedules. The notice for the Measure G1 public hearing was published in the Tribune on 7/24/2026 and 7/31/2026.
So, why wasn’t the Measure G1 paperwork ultimately filed?
After the Board approved placing the measure on the ballot, the next step required the Alameda County Superintendent of Schools to sign the necessary paperwork before it could be submitted to the Oakland City Clerk.
During that process, Alameda County Superintendent Alysse Castro raised concerns about potential litigation stemming from another court case unrelated to OUSD and about whether proceeding with the measure could expose the district or County to legal challenges. Superintendent Castro’s action is unprecedented and concerning.
It is important to distinguish between the Board’s decision to pursue Measure G1 and the subsequent procedural and legal issues that arose. The Board did approve moving forward with the measure. The measure did not fail because the Board chose not to support it, nor was the public hearing improperly noticed.
The decision not to proceed with the November ballot was made in light of the County’s concerns about potential litigation and the County’s required approval process.
We also need to be clear about what this does, and does not, mean for OUSD’s current budget. The existing Measure G1 funds remain available through the expiration of the current measure in 2029. The immediate issue is the longer-term continuity of funding beyond that date, not the elimination of these resources from the current year’s budget.
Our responsibility as a Board is to protect the educational programs and services our students depend on while ensuring that our decisions comply with the law and protect the district from unnecessary legal and financial risk.
We will continue working to understand the County’s concerns, explore our options, and advocate for the resources our students deserve. Our middle school students, teachers, and school communities deserve stability, and continued investment in arts, music, world languages, and teacher retention—and that work remains a priority for Oakland Unified.
Jennifer Brouhard is a retired OUSD educator and is the current OUSD School Board President representing District 2.
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