On Wednesday, U.S. Congressman Ken Buck (R-CO) introduced legislation that will prevent companies from using taxpayer dollars to force leftist Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies onto private sector businesses.
BlackRock, a far-left, multinational hedge fund, controls the corporate voting decisions of the federal Thrift Savings Plan (TSP). This grants them greater authority to direct taxpayer money to push ESG policies in the private sector.
“For years, BlackRock has been leveraging taxpayer money to force unwilling businesses to accept ESG and DEI policies,” said Rep. Buck. “Through its position as the manager of the federal Thrift Savings Plan, BlackRock has abused public capital to push a radical agenda and censor conservative media.”
The Stop TSP ESG Act would prevent the TSP from contracting out its corporate voting power to woke hedge funds, granting more power to individual investors and less to Silicon Valley. The bill is cosponsored by Reps. Stephanie Bice (R-OK), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Dan Bishop (R-NC), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Eric Burlison (R-MO), Ben Cline (R-VA), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Glenn Grothman (R-WI), Nancy Mace (R-SC), Carol Miller (R-IL), Alex Mooney (R-WV), Troy Nehls (R-TX), Ralph Norman (R-SC), Keith Self (R-TX), Pete Sessions (R-TX), Randy Weber (R-TX), and Bruce Westerman (R-AR). Conservative nonprofits Consumers’ Research and Concerned Women for America also support the bill.
“Woke Wall Street has been using the federal Thrift Savings Plan to force a radical left-wing agenda on the country. That’s a violation of their fiduciary duty and the basic precepts of democracy. Policy should be made in Congress, not BlackRock’s C-Suite.” said Will Hild, Executive Director at Consumer Research.
“The Stop TSP ESG Act is an important step in stopping the radical ESG agenda by protecting TSP account holders,” said Penny Nance, CEO and President of Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee. “BlackRock CEO Larry Fink admits to ‘forcing behaviors.’ Shareholders may be unknowingly supporting companies that disparage their values as proxy voting decisions are made by these radicals. Thank you, Rep. Buck, for introducing this legislation.”
Read the text HERE.
