Attorney General Brenna Bird Defends State Regulation of Pensions

DES MOINES—Today, Attorney General Brenna Bird announced she is leading a coalition of 10 states to defend the rights of states’ insurance agencies to regulate the transfer of employee pensions in a case before the Fourth Circuit.  

It is common practice for companies to transfer employee pensions to large state-regulated insurance companies.  But some employees of one of those companies sued—claiming, with no evidence, that federal government oversight is necessary to protect their interests. Their arguments threaten to disrupt state regulation that has proven exceptionally reliable.  

Attorney General Bird led the ten-state amicus brief to defend state-regulated pensions, which secure retirees’ benefits while safeguarding pension funds. Over the past three decades, not a single retiree has lost any benefits under this type of pension regulation overseen by state insurance regulators, as highlighted in the 2023 Advisory Council report to the U.S. Department of Labor.  

“Imposing more federal regulation of pensions is unnecessary and undermines the state’s authority and ability to continue to effectively protect retirees,” said Attorney General Bird. “I’m asking the court to keep regulatory power where it belongs—with the states.” 

“Insurance companies have expertise in managing the long-term obligations of life insurance and annuities, and this translates very well to pension plans,” said Insurance Commissioner Doug Ommen. “State insurance regulators, such as the Iowa Department of Insurance and Financial Services, have the expertise and experience to supervise this business.  With this effective supervision, these pension risk transfers often provide significant advantages to the pension plans and the retirees.” 

The Iowa-led brief was joined by Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas.  

Read the full brief here.  

### 

For More Information:

Jen Green 

jen.green@ag.iowa.gov