Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed one of the most extensive anti-ESG bills in the country into law on Tuesday, barring the managers of state or publicly controlled funds from considering environmental, social justice, and governance factors when making investment decisions.
The Government and Corporate Activism Act requires that various state actors, including the chief financial officer, state agencies, and the state retirement fund properly prioritize financial risk and return, or pecuniary factors, over any political considerations. It also prohibits the sale of ESG bonds. Local governments are impacted to a noteworthy degree as they too are required to stop promoting environmental and social goals through their investment decisions. Municipalities also hold ESG bonds.
The move follows Biden’s veto of a congressional effort to disapprove of the practice at the federal level. GOP governors signaled they would do what they can to fight ESG in their respective states. Florida now joins Kentucky and West Virginia, who were two of the first to act in a comprehensive way.
“We want them to act as fiduciaries. We do not want them engaged on these ideological joyrides,” explained DeSantis at a speech coinciding with the signing. “They want to use economic power to impose this agenda on our society. And we think in Florida, that is not going to fly here.”
The law also prevents banks, other financial institutions, and government contractors from discriminating against individuals and organizations on account of their political views. For example, this would ban banks from applying a “social credit score” and denying services to people based on religious beliefs or views on the Second Amendment, illegal immigration, or non-renewable energy sources.
“You’ll actually hear from some folks today who’ve kind of been caught up in this morass where they’ve been discriminated against by financial institutions, just basically because they’re not toeing the ideological line,” DeSantis said.
The law follows on other actions the governor has taken against “woke” corporations, including Florida’s decision to pull $2 billion from BlackRock, which is leading the pro-ESG charge.
Also this week, state politicians from across the country devised new ways of putting pressure on these corporations as well as a Biden administration that enables them.
Nineteen attorneys general sent a letter to JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon warning him and his organization to stop de-banking organizations they disagree with.
Kentucky attorney general Daniel Cameron said in a statement to National Review that he is leading this effort to stand up for the rights of Kentuckians.
“Chase cannot call itself ‘inclusive’ and say that it ‘opposes discrimination in any form,’ while simultaneously disenfranchising its clients over religious and political differences,” Cameron said.
Thirty-four state financial officers from 27 states also sent a letter to the Biden administration calling it out for its new Federal Housing Finance Agency policy that would penalize Americans with good credit scores.
“This disastrous policy injects socialist principles into our banking sector and punishes middle-class Americans who work hard to build good credit and buy a home,” explained West Virginia Treasurer Riley Moore in a statement.
“If people work hard to achieve the American dream of home ownership, they should not be punished with higher fees to subsidize those who pose a greater financial risk,” he added.
Will Hild, executive director of Consumers’ Research concurred, arguing it is part and parcel of the Biden’s idea of governance.
“This is the latest in a disturbing pattern of Biden’s big government intervention into the lives of hard-working Americans in order to push his progressive social agenda,” Hild said.
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