Miller blasts Senate Democrats for dropping disclosure provision from tax extenders

House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-Calif.) on Wednesday blasted Senate Democratic leaders for dropping from the so-called tax extenders bill a provision requiring 401(k) fees to be disclosed to investors and refusing to name the senators who oppose the measure. 

"They've indicated that there is always some mysterious senator who says that they can't vote for this provision," Miller said, adding, "You're never really able to trace that phantom down, but that becomes the basis on which to drop this provision [from the bill]."

The disclosure rule was included in the extender bill that passed the House, but Senate leaders jettisoned the proposal from their legislation even though it has no budgetary effect on the package. 

Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) has now offered a slimmed down version of the extenders bill that Miller wants his provision added to.

"We think if there was a full airing on what this means to the American families it would not be easily dropped," Miller said, adding that "just a 1 percent increase in an unjustified fee means [investors] could lose up to 28 percent of the money set aside for retirement."

Miller and Rep. Robert Andrews (D-N.J.) urged senators to include the disclosure rule in the new tax extender bill by sending pies to Senate Finance Committee members, absent one slice to represent the fees Wall Street takes from 401(k) account holders that are not disclosed.

"Some 28 percent of that pie will be gone because that represents what Wall Street is taking away from American families," Miller said, adding that "the Senate should side with middle-class Americans who want to know the facts about fees and charges that threaten their retirement savings."