Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, approved measures Tuesday to prevent the Florida Retirement System Pension Plan from investing in accordance with the environmental, social, and corporate governance movement.
The measures will ensure that public fiduciaries will "invest state funds in a manner that prioritizes the highest return on investment for Florida's taxpayers and retirees without considering the ideological agenda of the environmental, social, and corporate governance [ESG] movement," according to an August press release.
Decisions on investment "must be based only on pecuniary factors [which] do not include the consideration of the furtherance of social, political, or ideological interests," the release reads, adding that the State Board of Administration "may not sacrifice investment return or take on additional investment risk to promote any non-pecuniary factors" when it makes investments or proxy votes.
"Corporations across America continue to inject an ideological agenda through our economy rather than through the ballot box. Today's actions reinforce that ESG considerations will not be tolerated here in Florida, and I look forward to extending these protections during this legislative session," DeSantis said in a statement Tuesday.
In addition, DeSantis has proposed legislation to outlaw financial institutions from "discriminating against consumers for their religious, political, or social beliefs" or considering "ESG credit scores." The legislation would also permanently ban the State Board of Administration fund managers from considering ESG factors in investing state money and require them only to consider maximizing retirees' return on investment.
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