Governor Kevin Stitt is continuing his crusade against the “Environmental, Social, and Governance” investment policies (or ESG) by throwing his support behind the U.S. House’s effort to disapprove those policies. President Biden has threatened to veto the action should it come to his desk. Stitt has joined 18 governors opposing Biden’s threat.
Republicans are pushing back against ESG policies because they believe it is being used to drive political agendas while shirking fiduciary responsibilities.
The group of governors released a statement saying in part, “We as 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 Oklahoma Legislature passed and Stitt signed the Energy Discrimination Elimination Act of 2022 last year to require the Oklahoma State Treasurer to maintain a list of financial companies which boycott energy companies.
The complete statement issued by the governors is below:
This month, Congress exercised its powers under the Congressional Review Act to disapprove of the Department of Labor Rule relating to “Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights.” Yet again, President Biden put his political agenda above the wellbeing and individual freedoms of hardworking Americans. We as 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.
In response to Congress taking action to keep politics out of Americans’ retirement funds, President Biden threatened to veto this measure, which puts the pensions of thousands of hardworking Americans at risk to the radical environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) movement, rather than prioritizing investment decisions on the highest rate of return. Retirees, already suffering from the reckless fiscal policies of the Biden Administration, will continue to experience diminished returns on the investment of their hard-earned money while the corporate elite continue to use their economic power to impose policies on the country that they could not achieve at the ballot box.
The proliferation of ESG throughout America is a direct threat to the American economy, individual economic freedom, and our way of life, putting investment decisions in the hands of the woke mob to bypass the ballot box and inject political ideology into investment decisions, corporate governance, and the everyday economy.
To protect individuals from the ESG movement that threatens the vitality of the American economy and Americans’ economic freedom, we agree to lead state-level efforts, including:
- Protecting taxpayers from ESG influences across state systems: Among other actions, this may include blocking the use of ESG in all investment decisions at the state and local level, ensuring that only financial factors are considered to maximize the return on investment, protecting retirees and taxpayers alike. This may also include eliminating consideration of ESG factors by state and local governments when issuing bonds or prohibiting state fund managers from considering ESG factors when investing taxpayer money.
- Protecting citizens from ESG influences in the financial sector: Among other actions, this may include banning the financial sector from considering so called “Social Credit Scores” in banking and lending practices aimed to prevent citizens from obtaining financial services like loans, lines of credit, and bank accounts. This may also include stopping financial institutions from discriminating against customers for their religious, political, or social beliefs, such as owning a firearm, securing the border, or increasing our energy independence.
As Governors, we are committed to protecting the interests of our constituents and will keep fighting the Administration’s decision to jeopardize retirement savings for millions of Americans to promote far left priorities.
