Staff Reports
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is taking a stand against what he calls “ESG woke banking”. ESG stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance standards, which DeSantis believes are a way to inject political ideology into investment decisions, corporate governance, and the everyday economy. He proposed legislation on Monday that would withdraw government support from banks that use ESG and create protections for citizens.
Our legislative proposal will ensure that financial institutions will no longer be able to discriminate against hard-working Floridians and small businesses on the basis of political, religious or social beliefs. pic.twitter.com/kpaVCmY2zW
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) February 13, 2023
DeSantis believes the standards negatively impact the United States and its citizens in many ways, such as increasing the country’s dependence on China, violating company’s duties to their shareholders, and undermining the democratic process. He also believes that ESG often targets “disfavored” groups, such as Second Amendment advocates and companies like The GEO Group, a Florida-based private corrections company that holds a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The proposed legislation would put into statute a resolution DeSantis issued last August banning state pensions from considering ESG. It would also create protections for Florida citizens against discrimination by big financial institutions for their “religious, political, or social beliefs”. Additionally, it would prohibit financial institutions from using “Social Credit Scores” in banking and lending decisions, ban the housing of state or local funds in institutions that promote ESG, and ensure ESG is not used in investment decisions or issuing bonds at the state and local level.
At the press conference announcing the proposed legislation, DeSantis was joined by Florida Senate President Kathleen Passidomo and House Speaker Paul Renner. Renner said in a statement that the goal of corporate activism seen in ESG investing is to bypass democracy and transform capitalism to serve an ideological agenda. He added that they will not allow these martini millionaires to push unsafe and unsound investment practices that silence debate in the political process, weaken investment strategies for Florida retirees, and discriminate against any individual’s beliefs.
DeSantis concluded by saying that Florida is leading the charge against this issue and that his proposed legislation will put taxpayers, investors, and Florida retirees first. He added that it will also direct the Attorney General and Commissioner of Financial Regulation “to enforce these provisions to the fullest extent of the law”.
Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida is taking a stand against what he calls “ESG woke banking”. ESG stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance standards, which DeSantis believes are a way to inject political ideology into investment decisions, corporate governance, and the everyday economy. He proposed legislation on Monday that would withdraw government support from banks that use ESG and create protections for citizens.
DeSantis believes the standards have a negative impact on the United States and its citizens in many ways. These include increasing the country’s dependence on China, violating company’s duties to their shareholders, and undermining the democratic process. He also believes that ESG often targets “disfavored” groups, such as Second Amendment advocates and companies like The GEO Group, a Florida-based private corrections company that holds a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The proposed legislation would put into statute a resolution DeSantis issued last August banning state pensions from considering ESG. It would also create protections for Florida citizens against discrimination by big financial institutions for their “religious, political, or social beliefs”. Additionally, it would prohibit financial institutions from using “Social Credit Scores” in banking and lending decisions, ban the housing of state or local funds in institutions that promote ESG, and ensure ESG is not used in investment decisions or issuing bonds at the state and local level.
At the press conference announcing the proposed legislation, DeSantis was joined by Florida Senate President Kathleen Passidomo and House Speaker Paul
The preceding article is a summary of an article that originally appeared on The Daily Caller
