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Enacted state ESG legislation by trifecta status, 2024
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| • What is ESG? • Enacted ESG legislation • Arguments for and against ESG • Opposition to ESG • Federal ESG rules • ESG legislation tracker • Economy and Society: Ballotpedia's weekly ESG newsletter |
This page lists enacted ESG legislation by trifecta status and state in 2024.
19 states enacted 33 bills either opposing or supporting environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) investing in 2024.
Overall, most Republican trifectas and states with divided governments enacted legislation opposing ESG. Most Democratic trifectas enacted legislation supporting ESG investing. 91% of all enacted ESG bills in 2024 have:
- opposed ESG in a Republican trifecta at the time of their enactment (17 bills),
- supported ESG in a Democratic trifecta at the time of their enactment (9 bills), or
- opposed ESG in a divided government at the time of their enactment (4 bills).
This page sorts those 91% of enacted bills into six policy approaches opposing ESG and five supporting it, highlighting:
Legislative approaches opposing ESG enacted in Republican trifecta states
Legislative approaches supporting or opposing ESG enacted in divided government states
Legislative approaches supporting ESG enacted in Democratic trifecta states
To see a comprehensive list of bills related to ESG, click the links below:
State legislative approaches supporting ESG investing
State legislative approaches opposing ESG investing
The term ESG investing refers to an asset management approach that considers factors besides the maximization of shareholder value. Specifically, it considers the environment, social issues, and governance practices. ESG investing is a form of stakeholder capitalism. Stakeholder capitalism argues that maximizing the risk-adjusted rate of return on a company's stock (known as shareholder capitalism) should not be the only goal of investing.
The tables in this article were populated using data from the Consumers' Research ESG legislation tracker.[1]
Legislative approaches opposing ESG enacted in Republican trifecta states
This section tracks enacted legislation opposing ESG in Republican trifecta states from 2024. Ten out of 23 Republican trifecta states enacted legislation opposing ESG. Of those states:[1]
- 5 enacted anti-discrimination legislation
- 4 enacted sole fiduciary legislation
- 4 enacted anti-boycott legislation
- 2 enacted public disclosure requirement legislation
- 0 enacted legislation opposing federal ESG mandates
- 0 enacted consumer and investor protection legislation
The table below provides a list of bills enacted in Republican trifectas in 2024, organized by state and reform approach.
| Enacted ESG legislation totals in Republican trifectas, 2024[1] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Sole fiduciary | Anti-boycott | Anti-discrimination | Consumer and investor protection | Public disclosure requirement | Federal mandate opposition |
| Alabama | ||||||
| Arkansas | ||||||
| Florida | ||||||
| Georgia | ||||||
| Idaho | ||||||
| Indiana | ||||||
| Iowa | ||||||
| Louisiana | 2024, 2024 | |||||
| Mississippi | ||||||
| Missouri | ||||||
| Montana | ||||||
| Nebraska | ||||||
| North Dakota | ||||||
| New Hampshire | ||||||
| Ohio | ||||||
| Oklahoma | ||||||
| South Carolina | ||||||
| South Dakota | ||||||
| Tennessee | ||||||
| Texas | ||||||
| Utah | ||||||
| West Virginia | ||||||
| Wyoming | ||||||
Legislative approaches supporting ESG enacted in Democratic trifecta states
This section tracks enacted legislation supporting ESG in Democratic trifecta states in 2024. Five out of 17 Democratic trifecta states enacted legislation supporting ESG. Of those states:[1]
- 2 enacted non-financial criteria consideration legislation
- 1 enacted industry divestment legislation
- 1 enacted corporate disclosure legislation
- 2 enacted legislation requiring ESG criteria in state contracts
- 0 enacted corporate board diversity legislation
The table below provides a list of bills enacted in Democratic trifectas in 2024, organized by state and reform approach.
| Enacted ESG legislation totals in Democratic trifectas, 2024[1] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Non-financial criteria consideration | Industry divestment | Corporate board diversity | Corporate disclosure | State contracts |
| California | 2024, 2024 | ||||
| Colorado | |||||
| Connecticut | |||||
| Delaware | |||||
| Hawaii | |||||
| Illinois | |||||
| Maine | |||||
| Maryland | |||||
| Massachusetts | |||||
| Michigan | |||||
| Minnesota | |||||
| New Jersey | |||||
| New Mexico | |||||
| New York | |||||
| Oregon | |||||
| Rhode Island | |||||
| Washington | |||||
Legislative approaches supporting or opposing ESG enacted in divided government states
This section tracks enacted legislation opposing ESG in states with divided governments in 2024. No divided governments enacted legislation supporting ESG.
Two out of the 10 states with divided governments as of 2024 enacted four bills opposing ESG. Both states (Kansas and Kentucky) had a Republican-controlled legislature and a Democratic governor at the time the legislation was enacted. Of the four bills, one was passed through a veto override. Of the two states:[1]
- 2 enacted sole fiduciary legislation
- 0 enacted anti-boycott legislation
- 1 enacted anti-discrimination legislation
- 0 enacted public disclosure requirement legislation
- 0 enacted legislation opposing federal ESG mandates
- 0 enacted consumer and investor protection legislation
| Enacted ESG legislation in divided governments, 2024[1] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Sole Fiduciary | Anti-Boycott | Anti-Discrimination | Consumer and Investor Protection | Public Disclosure Requirement | Federal Mandate Opposition |
| Alaska | ||||||
| Arizona | ||||||
| Kansas | ||||||
| Kentucky | ||||||
| Nevada | ||||||
| North Carolina | ||||||
| Pennsylvania | ||||||
| Vermont | ||||||
| Virginia | ||||||
| Wisconsin | ||||||
See also
- Reform proposals related to environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
- Enacted state ESG legislation by trifecta status, 2020-2025
- State legislative activity against ESG investing
- State legislative approaches opposing ESG investing
External links
- Consumers' Research, "ANTI-ESG ACTIONS AND LEGISLATION TRACKER"
- Pleiades Strategy, "Live Anti-ESG Bill Tracker"
- Ropes & Gray, "Navigating State Regulation of ESG"
- Debevoise & Plimpton, "State-Level ESG Investment Developments Tracker"
- Kramer Levin, "ESG Regulatory and Policy Tracker"
- K&L Gates, "2023 ESG STATE LEGISLATION WRAP UP"
Footnotes
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