DeSantis takes another swipe at ‘woke’ corporations, saying Florida won’t invest
Continuing to target what he calls “woke” corporations, Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to prohibit state investments that use “environmental, social and governance” ratings, which can include taking into account the impacts of climate change.
DeSantis plans to have the State Board of Administration, which oversees investments, direct pensionfund managers against “using political factors when investing the state’s money.” So-called ESG policies have drawn criticism from Republicans across the country.
“We want [fund managers] to invest the state’s money for the best interests of the beneficiaries of those funds, which is, again, the people that are retired cops and teachers and other public employees,” DeSantis said Wednesday during an appearance at a Tampa restaurant.
DeSantis also intends to work during the 2023 legislative session with incoming House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, to put ESG prohibitions into law.
ESG practices can involve considering a various issues, such as companies’ climate-change vulnerabilities; carbon emissions; product safety; supply-chain labor standards; privacy and data security; and executive compensation.
The organization DeSantis Watch — which is a joint project from Florida Watch and Progress Florida and is critical of the governor — issued a statement Wednesday that said DeSantis’ proposal does “the bidding of his large corporate donors and billionaire supporters.”
“Florida is ground zero for the climate crisis, but once again Ron DeSantis lacks the courage to take any real action to protect the livelihoods of the people of our state,” Natasha Sutherland, of DeSantis Watch, said.
DeSantis, Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis and Attorney General Ashley Moody, who are trustees of the State Board of Administration, are scheduled to meet during an Aug. 23 Cabinet meeting.
Managers oversee about $250 billion in assets, investing money from the Florida Retirement System and 25 other funds, while also overseeing the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, a major reinsurance program.
Patronis in June also targeted investments that involve ESG ratings. At the time, Emilie Oglesby, a spokeswoman for the State Board of Administration, said in an email that “as fiduciaries, the SBA and its investment managers are required to take all relevant risks into account when making investment decisions.” Oglesby added, “Neither the SBA nor its managers use ESG factors as a way to screen or limit the available investment opportunity set.”
State Board of Administration representatives didn’t immediately respond to questions Wednesday.
Backing DeSantis on Wednesday, Tina Descovich, co-founder of the conservative group Moms for Liberty, said her organization and some members have seen their accounts frozen by PayPal.
“In a day and age of canceled culture, where parental-rights groups are being designated as domestic terrorists by our own United States Department of Justice, the cancellation of our financing by major organizations just seems like the next step in these draconian policies,” Descovich said while at DeSantis’ event.
On its website, PayPal said building “a more financially inclusive and interconnected world is the foundation of our values-led culture, which is grounded in Inclusion, Innovation, Collaboration and Wellness across our communities, workforce and strategies.”
PayPal said its ESG strategy
expands on a mission “to promote financial wellness and to empower those who are under served by the financial community.”
DeSantis said corporations are being overrun by activist employees, who “believe they’re entitled to have their employer basically emote the same political values as they do.”
“The problem is that, then the inmates are running the asylum,” DeSantis continued.