Anti-ESG bill advances out of Indiana Senate committee (2023)
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The Indiana Senate Pensions and Labor Committee advanced a bill April 5 that proposes prohibiting ESG considerations in public investments. The Senate bill contains several exemptions that did not appear in the bill when it was first introduced. Some have suggested the changes would water down the legislation:
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A bill designed to prevent the state’s pension fund from working with asset managers that use environmental, social and governmental—or ESG—considerations in their investment strategies was advanced by the Indiana Senate Pensions and Labor Committee on Wednesday. As it was originally written, House Bill 1008, authored by Rep. Ethan Manning, R-Logansport, was projected to result in a whopping $6.7 billion loss to the Indiana Public Retirement System, or INPRS, over the next decade. That number was based on the assumption that financial institutions would not be able to work with INPRS due to its hardline stance against ESG investing, according to State Treasurer Daniel Elliot. That prompted lawmakers to make significant changes to the bill, including exempting private market funds, which make up about 15% of the state’s total pension investments, from the legislation. The amended bill also excludes the state police pension trust and the pension system’s defined contribution plans. Manning said the revisions would reduce the fiscal impact to zero and clear up any confusion while keeping intact the original intent of the legislation. “The big idea here is that financial returns trump all, period, full stop,” Manning told the committee. “That’s the point of the bill. You can do all of the ESG funds and investing you want, but they have to have the highest returns, lowest risk and lowest management fees.” The legislation also imposes reporting requirements on INPRS, requiring the agency to provide an annual count of all proxy votes made by fiduciaries. Enforcement of the law would fall under the treasurer’s office, which some lawmakers found problematic. The committee advanced the bill with all three Democrats on the committee voting against the measure. The legislation heads to the Senate floor.[1] |
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See also
- Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
- Economy and Society: Ballotpedia's ESG newsletter
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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