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The Florida Senate

SB 7028 — State Board of Administration

by Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee and Senator Sobel

This summary is provided for information only and does not represent the opinion of any Senator, Senate Officer, or Senate Office.

Prepared by: Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee (GO)

This bill encourages the State Board of Administration (SBA) to take actions in support of the MacBride Principles in Northern Ireland. The MacBride Principles means the objectives for companies operating in Northern Ireland to provide fair employment opportunities to individuals from underrepresented religious groups in the workforce.

 

Specifically, the bill encourages the SBA to determine which publicly traded companies in which the Florida Retirement System Trust Fund is invested operate in Northern Ireland. For those companies identified, the SBA is encouraged to:

  • Notify the company that the SBA supports the MacBride Principles;

  • Inquire regarding actions taken by the company in support of the MacBride Principles;

  • Encourage the company that has not adopted the MacBride Principles to make all lawful efforts to implement similar fair employment practices; and

  • Support the adoption of the MacBride Principles in exercising its proxy voting authority.

The bill provides that the SBA is not liable for, and a cause of action does not arise from, any action or inaction by the SBA in the administration of these provisions.

 

Also, the bill deletes one of the conditions that trigger the expiration of the SBA’s duty to scrutinize companies and to assemble the Scrutinized Companies with Activities in the Iran Petroleum Energy Sector List.  The SBA will no longer be required to consider statements from the United States Congress or the President expressed in legislation, executive order, or written certification from the President to Congress, that mandatory divestment of companies with scrutinized business operations in Iran interfere with the conduct of U.S. foreign policy. The State Board of Administration must monitor certain events and report occurrence of these events to its trustees.

 

The bill clarifies the duties of the SBA relating to:

  • The creation and maintenance of the various lists of scrutinized companies;

  • The divestment of certain investments relating to those scrutinized companies; and

  • The reporting of the various lists of scrutinized companies and specified criteria of the Florida Retirement System.

 

If approved by the Governor, these provisions take effect July 1, 2016.

Vote: Senate 33-0; House 113-1