Illinois’s newest law fights divestment with divestment
Source: Times of ISrael
Governor signs landmark bill prohibiting state pension funds from investing in companies that boycott Israel
WASHINGTON — Fighting divestment with divestment, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner signed into law landmark legislation Thursday making Illinois the first state to divest its public pension funds from companies that participate in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement targeting Israel.
Surrounded by legislators, Jewish community leaders and the Consul General of Israel to the Midwest, Rauner signed the law which proponents tout as “the first state-based measure to take specific concrete action against boycotts of Israel.”
The legislation was modeled after past measures relating to Iran and Sudan. It now requires state pension systems to terminate direct investment in companies that boycott Israel and issue warnings to fund managers when such companies are held indirectly inside larger portfolios.
The statute offers a broad definition for “boycotting Israel” as “engaging in actions that are politically motivated and are intended to penalize, inflict economic harm on, or otherwise limit commercial relations with the State of Israel or companies based in the State of Israel or in territories controlled by the State of Israel.” The last clause, like recent legislation in the US Congress, is likely to include those entities who engage in boycotts of products manufactured or companies headquartered in the West Bank.
Read more: http://www.timesofisrael.com/illinoiss-newest-law-fights-divestment-with-divestment/
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