WASHINGTON – Expanding ESOPs Tuesday announced veteran Capitol Hill policy staffer Michael Sinacore will lead its efforts to pass legislation designed to give more frontline workers stakes in the companies they help build.
Sinacore, who worked for former Sen. Rob Portman, and played a key role winning bipartisan support for the SECURE 2.0 Act, will steer the coalition’s work to build enthusiasm on both sides of the aisle for forthcoming legislation making it easier for workers at public and large private companies to reap the benefits of employee stock ownership plans, or ESOPs.
“I am excited to join Expanding ESOPs as head of policy and government affairs and help build on the recent momentum behind employee ownership,” said Sinacore. “The bipartisan success of SECURE 2.0 and the unanimous Senate passage of the Retire Through Ownership Act demonstrate that expanding ownership opportunities can unite leaders across the political spectrum. I look forward to advancing policies that help more workers and communities share in the wealth they help create.”
In addition to serving as former Sen. Portman’s economic policy advisor, Sinacore’s 13-year career in government includes several years as pensions policy director for the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, where he drafted and helped pass pro-ESOP legislation.
“Throughout my career, I have seen how employee ownership can transform companies, improve productivity, strengthen communities, and create real wealth for workers,” said Sen. Portman. “As my former advisor on employee ownership issues, Michael Sinacore was instrumental in passing some of the most significant ESOP legislation in years. His combination of policy expertise, legislative skill, and passion for expanding ownership opportunities will serve the organization well.”
Despite years of academic research proving their effectiveness, various constraints are preventing ESOPs from achieving their full potential. Expanding ESOPs is seeking to remove these roadblocks by modernizing the 50+ year-old legal and regulatory framework that governs ESOPs, opening a path to a more vibrant American economy. The coalition seeks to help more workers gain access to ESOPs, complementing existing ESOP efforts, not replacing them.
Through the greater proliferation of ESOPs across our economy, we have the potential to build significant wealth for workers, increase employee engagement, improve financial literacy, and lower the sky-high quit rate that plagues our economy.
“Unlocking ESOPs for workers at large companies is the most effective path to expanding wealth creation to a broader base of employees,” said Mary Josephs, president of Verit Advisors and a board member of Expanding ESOPs. “ESOPs are vastly underused, and their limited adoption means that many of the workers the law was intended to benefit have not been reached. We’re excited Michael is on board to lead the way as we work to make employee ownership the norm, rather than the exception, in our economy.”
The Expanding ESOPs coalition launched in late 2024 and has grown to 90+ organizations, encompassing a broad cross section of the employee ownership community. It includes advocacy organizations, foundations, financial advisory firms, ESOP companies, ESOP service providers and many others.