Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is leading a coalition of governors from 18 states who’ve pledged to fight the Biden administration’s environmental, social and corporate governance agenda
The governors said Biden’s investment agenda is a “decision to jeopardize retirement savings for millions of Americans to promote far left priorities.”
Joining DeSantis are the governors of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.
The coalition argues President Joe Biden’s ESG agenda is “destabilizing the American economy and the global financial system.”
“At my direction, Florida has led the way in combating the pernicious effects of the ESG regime by directing our state pension fund managers to reject ESG and instead focus on obtaining the highest return on investment for Florida’s taxpayers and retirees,” DeSantis said, referring to the state last August divesting its retirement system from funds that prioritize ESG.
The coalition pledged to fight against the administration’s ESG policies after 25 state attorneys general sued the administration over them in January. Many in the governors’ coalition overlap with states represented in the AG coalition.
Last August, DeSantis vowed to “spearhead an initiative to join with other like-minded states to send an even louder message to the financial industry that the American people have rejected ESG at the ballot box, and ideologues cannot and should not circumnavigate the will of the people.” The governor’s coalition, he said, “delivered on that promise.”
In a joint statement issued on Thursday, the governors said, “Congress exercised its powers under the Congressional Review Act” to disapprove a Department of Labor Rule, which the president has threatened to veto. In doing so, Biden has “put his political agenda above the well-being and individual freedoms of hardworking Americans.”
The coalition of governors said “… freedom loving states can work together and leverage our state pension funds to force change in how major asset managers invest the money of hardworking Americans, ensuring corporations are focused on maximizing shareholder value, rather than the proliferation of woke ideology.”
The rule risks the pensions of thousands of hardworking Americans, they argue, instead of “prioritizing investment decisions on the highest rate of return.”
https://www.thecentersquare.com/national/article_216112be-c435-11ed-83b3-4f0d679d4acc.html