Bill > H3564

Introduced Session

A bill to amend the South Carolina Code of Laws BY enactING the "Eliminate Economic Boycotts Act"; and by adding Section 11-1-130 so as to require companies that contract with the state to certify that they do not boycott or discriminate against certain companies. Whereas, numerous essential American industries-including fossil fuel production, agriculture, timber production, and firearms-are being targeted for boycotting, divesting, and sanctioning by large corporations and public and private institutional investors; and Whereas, the goal of these colluding parties is to starve targeted legal industries of capital, restrict their productivity, and redirect that capital to favored industries; and Whereas, these parties are working in concert with many state and federal lawmakers and regulators, as evidenced most recently by new climate disclosure rules from the Securities and Exchange Commission; and Whereas, restricting the supply of energy and other essential commodities, without effective substitutes for those commodities, only serves to raise prices on consumers, profoundly impacting the poorest among us; and Whereas, denying financing to American companies, who are among the most socially and environmentally responsible companies in the world, only serves to support hostile nations and less responsible producers; and Whereas, banks and insurance companies are increasingly denying financing to creditworthy companies to market their environmental credentials to the detriment of consumers, shareholders, and society; and Whereas, institutional investors are divesting from entire industries and pressuring corporations to commit to environmental goals, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050, to burnish their environmental credentials or promote their own environmental, social, and governance funds at the expense of investor returns; and Whereas, large investment firms, through their proxy votes on shareholder resolutions and board elections, are colluding to force companies to direct money, time, and attention away from their core responsibility of increasing shareholder returns, driving capital allocation decisions and political change outside the democratic process; and Whereas, corporations are boycotting and sanctioning essential legal industries, such as fossil fuel and agriculture producers, by denying them capital, refusing to provide them with products or services or imposing undue burdens on them; and Whereas, the collusion of corporations, and institutions to boycott, divest from, or sanction any industry may violate existing antitrust and fiduciary duty laws and harms consumers, shareholders, and this State; and Whereas, states, when financially prudent, should avoid doing business with companies that engage in such potentially illegal conduct, and threaten harm to this State, its businesses, and citizens. Now, therefore,

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Doug Gilliam (R)*,  Mike Burns (R),  Matthew Leber (R), 

Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Leber (on 03/28/2023)

Official Document