The Florida House is set Friday to approve a proposal that would prevent government fund managers from considering issues such as climate change and social diversity when deciding how to invest money.
A priority of House Speaker Paul Renner and other Republican leaders, the measure (HB 3) would prevent “environmental, social and governance,” or ESG, standards in investing such things as pension funds.
The House took up the bill Thursday and positioned it for a vote Friday.
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The measure doesn’t prevent investments with companies that use ESG ratings if they can show a predictable return.
“If they use ESG as part of their business formula, and they’re producing great results, they can continue to do business,” bill sponsor Bob Rommel, R-Naples, said. Democrats contended the bill would impose Republican positions on private firms’ investment strategies.
Gov. Ron DeSantis and members of the state Cabinet last year directed investment decisions in the Florida Retirement System Defined Benefit Plan to prioritize the highest returns without consideration of environmental, social and governance standards.
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Rommel’s bill would expand that to all funds invested by state and local governments.
The bill would require that state and local-government investment decisions be made “solely on pecuniary factors” and would prevent “sacrificing investment return or undertaking additional investment risk to promote any non-pecuniary factor.”
A similar bill (SB 302) has been filed in the Senate.
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