# 119-hr-1996: Retirement Proxy Protection Act

119-hr-1996, Retirement Proxy Protection Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Houchin, Erin [R-IN-9] (R-IN); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-04-23).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1996
- As of: 2026-04-23
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-1996
- Congress: 119
- Title: Retirement Proxy Protection Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-03-10
- Sponsor: Rep. Houchin, Erin [R-IN-9] (R-IN)
- Cosponsors: 2
- Policy area: unknown
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-04-23

## Summary

**This bill would clarify ERISA to require fiduciaries to exercise shareholder rights only to advance the economic interests of plan participants and beneficiaries.** It would set standards for when to vote proxies, require recordkeeping, and allow defined safe-harbor voting policies. - Workers and retirees would see plan voting focused on financial returns rather than social or non-pecuniary goals, and voting or tender rights can be passed through to individual account holders when the plan terms allow. - Plan fiduciaries and investment managers would be required to act prudently and solely for the plan's economic interest, consider costs, evaluate material facts, keep records of proxy votes and influence attempts, and monitor any proxy advisory firms or managers they hire. - Plans may adopt a safe-harbor proxy voting policy that limits votes to proposals tied to an issuer's business or likely to materially affect value, and may refrain from voting when a plan's holdings in an issuer are below 5 percent. Effective date: these rules would apply to exercises of shareholder rights on or after January 1, 2026.

## Cosponsors (2)

- Rep. Owens, Burgess [R-UT-4] (R-UT), 2025-03-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Grothman, Glenn [R-WI-6] (R-WI), 2025-03-10T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- New rules for retirement plan proxy votes: benefit, low. If enacted, this would set clear rules for how retirement plan fiduciaries vote company shares. They would have to act only for participants’ financial benefit, weigh costs and facts, and keep records. They would not have to vote every proxy and would need to monitor investment managers and proxy a…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-137: TCJA Permanency Act
- 119-hr-9298: Stopping Harmful and Outrageous Torts Act
- 119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act
- 119-hr-21: Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act
- 119-hr-987: Fair Access to Banking Act
- 119-hr-2853: Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-hr-1996 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1996)

## Related
- [119-hr-137: TCJA Permanency Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-137)
- [119-hr-9298: Stopping Harmful and Outrageous Torts Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9298)
- [119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1262)
- [119-hr-21: Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-21)
- [119-hr-987: Fair Access to Banking Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-987)
- [119-hr-2853: Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2853)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1996 (as of 2026-04-23).