Ron DeSantis, the Republican Governor of Florida, has signed into a series of Anti-ESG measures into law this week.
According to ESG Today, the measures include rules prohibiting the consideration of any ESG factors in state and local investment decisions or procurement processes.
In a statement following the signing of the legislation, the Governor’s office said that the laws will ‘protect Floridians’ from the ESG movement. The office described ESG as a ‘worldwide effort to inject woke political ideology across the financial sector, placing politics above the fiduciary duty to make the best financial decisions for beneficiaries’.
The new law – originally proposed in February – blocks the use of ESG in all decisions at the state and local level as well as banning state and local governments from considering ESG factors in the procurement and contracting process.
The law also prohibits the use of ESG factors in bond issuances by state and local governments, which includes a ‘contract prohibition on rating agencies whose ESG ratings negatively impact the issuer’s bond ratings’.
Further rules under the new law include prohibitions on the use of ‘Social Credit Scores’ in banking and lending practices, and on banks engaged in ‘corporate activism’ from holding government funds as a Qualified Public Depository.
It was recently revealed that DeSantis will head an 18-state alliance aimed at banning the use of ESG considerations in state and local pension funds.
DeSantis said, “Through this legislation, Florida will continue to lead the nation against big banks and corporate activists who’ve colluded to inject woke ideology into the global marketplace, regardless of the financial interests of beneficiaries.”
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