Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise, a project of the 2025 Presidential Transition Project, has strongly endorsed regulatory changes to make it easier to set up ESOPs. The project, led by the Heritage Foundation, invited over 400 conservative scholars and thinkers to set out detailed policy recommendations for all aspects of the federal government, resulting in an 883-page document.
The book presents the consensus opinion of the authors working on each section, with a dissenting note on a contrary view. On ESOPs, it says:
“Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs)… enable employees to formally participate as investors in how their employers’ businesses are run. And they also align employer–employee incentives by giving employees a greater financial stake in the success of their employers. With over half of small businesses owned by business owners over the age of 55, ESOPs also create advantageous succession opportunities that support the continuity of local businesses and regional economic development. Finally, ESOPs can enable greater investment returns for employees. However, ESOPs have to date lacked clear rules under ERISA that recognize their unique structure and benefits, and this opacity can serve as a barrier to employers considering adopting ESOPs.”
The report says the DOL should “Provide clear regulations for ESOP valuation and fiduciary conduct. DOL should make it easier for employers to offer ESOPs by providing clear regulations for ESOP valuation and fiduciary conduct that encourages the participation of employee beneficiaries in corporate governance, while recognizing the importance of financial diversification for retirement security."
It notes, however, that some conservatives believe the government should not favor one form of investment over another and that it is important for families to own diversified assets.
The above discussion of ESOPs (the only mention of them in the book) appears on pages 610-11 of chapter 18, written by Jonathan Berry with contributions by others (see the PDF of the entire book or chapter 18 alone). Berry is a partner at Boyden Gray & Associates and formerly headed the DOL's regulatory office.