South Carolina House signs off on ESG ban

The South Carolina House signed off on legislation requiring the state’s retirement system to consider only "pecuniary factors" when making investment decisions, essentially barring it from weighing environmental, social and governance factors.

Lawmakers on Thursday gave the third approval to H. 3690, the "ESG Pension Protection Act," sending the legislation to the state Senate, which referred it to the Committee on Finance. The measure could require the Retirement System Investment Commission to spend an additional $1 million to hire five additional employees, depending on how the legislation is implemented if signed into law.

According to a fiscal estimate from the South Carolina Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office, RSIC outlined three scenarios to achieve the bill’s requirements: managing proxy voting in-house, hiring an external proxy advisor and delegating the proxy voting to an external investment manager. However, RSIC officials are unclear on "which of these three scenarios will fully accomplish the requirements of this bill," according to the analysis.

The fiscal estimate indicated the agency would need more than $1 million and five full-time employees to manage the proxy voting in-house or up to $292,000 to hire an external proxy advisor. Delegating the proxy voting to an external investment manager would not require additional money.

"This crucial bill will protect South Carolinians’ retirement savings by ensuring fiduciary responsibility and prohibiting unsound, politically motivated investments," Americans for Prosperity-South Carolina State Director Candace Carroll said in a statement. "From Congress to state capitals across the country, lawmakers are rejecting radical ESG ideals that threaten to hold retirement accounts hostage."