On Tuesday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis reportedly signed into law one of the country’s most comprehensive anti-ESG measures, prohibiting managers of state or publicly controlled assets from considering environmental, social justice, and governance concerns when making investment choices.
According to the Government and Corporate Activism Act, numerous state actors, such as the chief financial officer, state agencies, and the state retirement fund, must correctly prioritize financial risk and return, or pecuniary concerns, over any political motives.
It also forbids the issuance of ESG bonds. Local governments are also impacted significantly since they must stop promoting environmental and social goals through their investment decisions. ESG bonds are also held by municipalities.
ESG represents an attempt to impose an ideological agenda through large financial institutions, rather than through the constitutional process.
This end-run around constitutional accountability is bad for the economy and for self-government. pic.twitter.com/qDOTj6JnoV
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) May 2, 2023
The action comes after Biden vetoed a Senate motion to condemn the practice at the federal level.
Republican governors have said that they will do everything possible to combat ESG in their own states.
Banks, other financial institutions, and government contractors are also prohibited from discriminating against individuals and groups based on their political beliefs under the statute.
This would prohibit banks from using a social credit score and refusing services to people based on religious convictions, Second Amendment views, illegal immigration, or nonrenewable energy sources.
[READ MORE: DeSantis Signs New Law That Allows Death Penalty for Child Predators]
