As previously reported, the U.S. Department of Justice asked the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California not to decide whether to dismiss the lawsuit by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association maintaining that the CalSavers retirement program is preempted by ERISA until the Department decides whether to participate in the lawsuit on behalf of the United States.  In its August 2, 2019 filing the Department indicated that it would give the court an update on the status of its process of deciding by August 30, 2019.  On August 30, 2019, the Department again asked the court to defer ruling on the pending motion to dismiss to give it additional time to conclude the process of deciding whether to participate.  The Department stated it would provide another update to the court on September 13, 2019.  CalSavers filed a response to the Department’s original notice asking the court not to defer its ruling, which apparently has been ignored as the court failed to rule.  Given the importance of the preemption issue it would be good to hear the Department’s point of view.