The movement to get exchange traded funds (ETFs) into 401(k) plans has hit a stumbling block.

House Education and Labor Chairman George Miller, D-Calif., pronounced his bill to increase disclosure of retirement account fees dead for the year, reports Peter Cohn for Congress Daily.

The aim of the legislation was to improve the reporting of fees charged by financial service providers, and it would also have required 401(k) plans to offer at least one low-cost index fund option.

Miller laid the bill to rest after concluding that the chances of getting President Bush to sign it were slim. He also felt it was too difficult to get anything through the Senate at this point in the year.

Calls for ETFs in 401(k) plans are getting louder, and many investors and those in the industry are beginning to ask why they aren’t a standard option. While the law mandating the inclusion of index funds has been put on hold, this isn’t bound to quiet the growing chorus of people who want them included.

If you don’t have ETFs in your plan, be sure to stay on your human resource department about the issue and ask why ETFs are not available to you.

Tags | 401(k)