ESG

The Treasury Department is warning that state laws that restrict banks from considering environmental, social and governance factors could harm efforts to address money laundering and terrorism financing.

"Texas was one of the first states to pass a restriction on ESG investing... we saw that municipal governments across the state were paying almost half a billion dollars more to service bonds in their communities— that's money that's being diverted away from schools, from roads," said Kelly Mitchell of Documented.

Gov. DeSantis is set to conclude a session that establishes him as perhaps the most accomplished conservative governor in the nation’s bitter culture wars.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law that he says will remove environmental, social and governance considerations from investment decisions and protect consumers’ ability to access financial services.

Bill sponsor Bob Rommel said the legislation would “send a message” that Florida won’t engage with corporations using “progressive ideology” or “exercising corporate activism when issuing bonds.”

On this week's Florida Roundup, we discussed Gov. Ron DeSantis' education policies, interim New College President Richard Corcoran getting a pay bump of nearly $400,000 over his predecessor, and explain ESG investing.

DeSantis outlined a legislative proposal to expand rules to prevent state pension investments that use ratings he and other Republican leaders consider “woke.”

State Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis cited ideological differences with BlackRock, specifically the firm’s use of environmental, social and governance standards.