West Virginia’s
state treasurer has introduced legislation that seeks to further combat corporate environmental and social goals, a move that is part of a broader pushback from Republican-led states.
GOP Treasurer Riley Moore has been one of the country’s most vocal critics of what is known as the environmental, social, and governance, or ESG, movement. He told the Washington Examiner that the legislation is going to require the state’s investment boards to cast proxy votes based on the financial interests of pensioners and taxpayers, not
ESG
factors. Proxy voting is a process that allows shareholders to vote on key issues while not personally attending corporations’ annual shareholder meetings. Republicans like Moore have accused large asset managers, who vote proxies on behalf of their clients, of using the power to leverage ESG goals.
“Say we have a proxy adviser or a fiduciary manager of these funds, say there is something that comes up that is a nonpecuniary interest — any vote like that, like a [diversity, equity, and inclusion] vote … they’re going to have to come to the board for instruction on how to cast that vote,” said Moore.
Moore said the legislation also requires the state pension board and his office to publish an annual report that tabulates and describes all shareholder votes that have been cast in a given year.
REPUBLICANS AIM TO TURN ESG INTO 2024 LIABILITY FOR DEMOCRATS
“West Virginia needs to take back control of its shareholder voting rights to ensure our public funds are not being used to advance social and political agendas that go against the financial interests of our pensioners and taxpayers,” Moore said in announcing the move.
The news comes a year after Moore, who is also running for Congress, announced that his state would end the use of a BlackRock investment fund. He said BlackRock has pushed companies to embrace investment strategies that hurt the fossil fuel industry while increasing investment in Chinese companies that go against U.S. interests and damage his state’s manufacturing base.
Over the summer, his office also declared five financial institutions ineligible for state banking contracts on the grounds that they “boycott” fossil fuel companies.
The restricted financial institutions are BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo — many of the biggest financial firms in the world. As the blacklist took effect, all five firms are no longer eligible for state contracts, and any existing contracts were voided. The news meant the firms will lose access to $18 billion in annual inflows and outflows.
Several other Republican-led states have also pushed back against ESG over the past several months.
Earlier this month Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) approved a measure prohibiting state-run fund managers in Florida from considering ESG factors when making investments. The measures ensure the state’s investment decisions are made “solely on maximizing the highest rate of return,” according to a news release.
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Moore told the Washington Examiner last year shortly after announcing his run for Congress that he hopes to continue his anti-ESG crusade at the federal level should he be chosen to represent West Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District.
“Look, I’ve been in the trenches on this for two years, and by the time I get there, it will be four years in dealing with it on a day-to-day basis,” Moore said about ESG. “So I’m going to have a wealth of experience coming into Congress, if I’m so lucky to be elected, that can help and inform this ESG scheme that we’re trying to defeat.”
