Ohio House passes bill prohibiting ESG in public pensions (2024)

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December 17, 2024

The Ohio House passed a bill last week that would prohibit ESG considerations in state public pension and college and university endowment fund investments. The state Senate passed the bill last May. It now goes to the desk of Gov. Mike DeWine (R) for consideration.

If Gov. DeWine approves the bill, Ohio will join 14 other states that have legislation limiting ESG considerations in state investments based on fiduciary requirements. It would also be the first major anti-ESG legislation enacted in Ohio.

According to Chief Investment Officer:

“

The bill cites the fiduciary duty of the governing boards of the pensions, compensation bureau and endowments and requires them to 'make investment decisions with the sole purpose of maximizing the return on its investments.' It goes on to order that each of the named funds’ boards 'shall not adopt a policy, or take any action to promote a policy, under which the board makes investment decisions with the primary purpose of influencing any social or environmental policy or attempting to influence the governance of any corporation.' … The restrictions will apply to the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System ($106.5 billion assets under management), the Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund ($18.90 billion), the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio ($97 billion), the School Employees Retirement System of Ohio ($19 billion) and the Ohio Highway Patrol Retirement System ($1 billion).

”

See also

• Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
• Economy and Society: Ballotpedia's ESG newsletter

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