![]() ![]() “This session we will stand up for state workers and protect their retirement from political interference. ![]() “The financial elite who are charged with investing on our behalf are using our investments for their own ideological agenda and without our consent,” Renner said. The bill also would bar issuance of ESG bonds and would place restrictions on banks.Īnthony DiMarco, a lobbyist for the Florida Bankers Association, said the proposal may drive up compliance costs for banks, which could be a bigger burden for state-chartered community banks.ĭiMarco said banks also must remain compliant with Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation rules and are facing changes in federal law that could conflict with Florida’s proposed changes.ĭuring a speech Tuesday to help open the annual legislative session, Renner, R-Palm Coast, argued that ESG consideration doesn’t follow the will of the people. If I'm understanding this correctly, it’s going to limit that discussion.” “And as a result of that, every pension board meeting that we have, our investment consultants and our investment managers talk to us about those issues. And the reason it is, is because it deals with what is being required in the global world regarding how manufacturing is done, how automobiles are created, how lumber is harvested, how farming is done,” Mattingly said. “ESG is one of the hottest topics in investment. “It's going to cause financial havoc because somebody wants to score a political point with this bill,” Joseph said.ĭwight Mattingly, a pension trustee with the Florida AFL-CIO, said aspects of the bill seem to be an “overreach.” Dotie Joseph, R-North Miami, said the state could be viewed as being involved in ideological discrimination by “badgering the industries that are responding to market forces.” Republican leaders in Florida and other states have targeted ESG for taking into account issues such as climate change, racial inequality and supply-chain labor standards.īut Rep. The bill would require that state and local-government investment decisions be made “solely on pecuniary factors” and would prevent “sacrificing investment return or undertaking additional investment risk to promote any non-pecuniary factor.” Rommel acknowledged the bill wouldn’t prevent investments with companies that use ESG ratings “as long as there’s a predictable return.” “And if they want to do that, I think we as the state of Florida have an obligation to protect our citizens, protect our businesses.” “There are issues out there when the largest financial institutions in the world and government agencies collude and outright decide they’re going to discriminate against a practice, an industry, they just think is morally wrong,” Rommel said. The bill would expand that to all funds invested by state and local governments.īill sponsor Bob Rommel, R-Naples, said the intent is to “send a message” that Florida won’t engage with corporations using “progressive ideology” or “exercising corporate activism when issuing bonds.” That directive required investment decisions for what is known as the Florida Retirement System Defined Benefit Plan to prioritize the highest returns without consideration of environmental, social and governance standards, or ESG. Ron DeSantis and members of the state Cabinet. The House Commerce Committee voted 16-5 to approve a bill (HB 3) that would expand on a directive issued last year by Gov. In a priority of House Speaker Paul Renner and other Republican leaders, the House began moving forward Wednesday with a proposal that would prevent considering “environmental, social and governance” standards in investing government money. ![]()
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