Democratic Bill Would Allow ESG-Based Retirement Investing

New legislation with Democratic backing in the House and Senate would expressly permit sustainable and socially conscious investing in American retirement plans, reversing a Trump-era rule broadly seen as a rebuke on environmental, social, and corporate governance investments.

U.S. Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) introduced the Financial Factors in Selecting Retirement Plan Investment Act Thursday.

The bill would give the environment, social, and governance factors, or ESG, an even footing in the retirement investment marketplace and permit them under default funds in which workers’ money is automatically invested.

The U.S. Labor Department’s ...