The alleged guardians of the Arizona Pension fund are supposed to invest that money to make it grow and to fulfill the promise made to state workers. Unfortunately that is not what they are doing. Instead, they are doling o7ut money to liberal causes that neither pays interest nor even gets paid back. That money is gone forever. . The Arizona State Retirement System (ASRS) is using pension funds to back environmental, social and governance (ESG) shareholder resolutions on issues including race, gender, climate and politics.
Forbes describes the criteria for the ESG strategy as:
Environment. What kind of impact does a company have on the environment? This can include a company’s carbon footprint, toxic chemicals involved in its manufacturing processes and sustainability efforts that make up its supply chain.
Social. How does the company improve its social impact, both within the company and in the broader community? Social factors include everything from LGBTQ+ equality, racial diversity in both the executive suite and staff overall, and inclusion programs and hiring practices. It even looks at how a company advocates for social good in the wider world, beyond its limited sphere of business.
Governance. How does the company’s board and management drive positive change? Governance includes everything from issues surrounding executive pay to diversity in leadership as well as how well that leadership responds to and interacts with shareholders
AAF reveals that ASRS is promoting:
VISIT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL- Decarbonization policies that would hurt America’s oil and gas industry.
- Divisive “racial equity” audits that would stigmatize and disadvantage white men and women, Asians, Jews, and other groups who are disfavored by left wing groups.
- Policies to hurt gun manufacturers.
- Efforts to defund conservative groups and candidates that represent small businesses and mainstream Arizonians.
All told the report identifies over 180 votes cast by ASRS over the past two years at the annual shareholder meetings of public companies that push a woke agenda.
Arizona state senator Jake Hoffman told the Daily Caller News Foundation, “That Arizona retirees’ pension funds are being used to promote economically disastrous ESG policies should alarm every single state taxpayer, regardless of political affiliation.”
“Taxpayers entrust ASRS to provide and vigorously advocate for the retirements and other benefits for state employees — not to prioritize woke policies like ‘racial equity’ audits and defunding the American Left’s perceived political adversaries.”
Some states, like Florida and Texas, are removing funds from ESG-focused firms like Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, which has thoroughly embraced ESG.
In 2021, William Hild, Executive Director of Consumers’ Research, sent a letter to the governors of the 10 states with the top 10 state pension funds invested with BlackRock with a consumer warning.
