With an overwhelming chorus of “aye” votes, the
California Assembly passed a bill on Wednesday that would require
state public retirement systems to divest from companies with
holdings in Sudan.
As of Wednesday, the vote was 53-2 in favor of the bill, AB
2941, but the count was not yet official: Assemblymen and
assemblywomen who were absent from Wednesday’s session were
still submitting votes.
The bill, proposed by Assemblyman Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood,
will now move on to the state Senate. If passed by both the Senate
and the Assembly, the bill will mandate that the California Public
Employees’ Retirement System and the California State
Teachers’ Retirement System divest from a selection of
companies with holdings in Sudan.
Passage of the bill is part of a nationwide campaign aimed at
pressuring the Sudanese government to end the violence in Darfur
that has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and many more
displacements over the past three years. The Sudanese government
has been accused of being complacent in the killings, and the
conflict has been labeled a genocide by the U.S. government.
“I was born 10 years after the Holocaust and thought that
nothing like that would ever be allowed to happen again,”
Koretz said in a recent statement on the state’s divestment
campaign. “I’m shocked to see history repeating itself
… and the international community not doing anything.”
Companies targeted for divestment per the bill include those
that provide substantial revenue to the Sudanese government without
providing benefits to the civilian population or humanitarian
organizations. The bill also targets companies that have not stated
a policy on the situation in Darfur.
“It’s a very targeted program,” said Sandra
DeBourelando, chief of staff for Koretz.
This targeted divestment program follows the same model as the
plan the UC Board of Regents adopted, and after the regents voted
to divest. Koretz said in a statement that he expected the UC model
to act as a template for other divestment decisions.
Thirty-three companies are now listed as potential targets for
divestment, and if the bill passes, CalPERS and CalSTRS would be
required to divest from about 20 companies, said Adam Sterling,
chairman of the UC Sudan Divestment Taskforce. The task force has
been instrumental in the UC’s decision to divest, and in
writing and lobbying for AB 2941.
“These are the companies that have been completely
unresponsive to shareholder pressure ““ the worst of the
worst,” Sterling said.