MA Legislative Initiative PDF briefing doc
Link to Fiduciary Duty Briefing S.1644 3-12-23S1644
Link to the PDF of the bill S1644
Some background:
With Congress’s anti-ESG bill headed to President Biden for veto, this legislative initiative in Massachusetts is particularly timely. The controversy exposes a generalized lack of understanding of fiduciary law — at least in the context of state-level pension plans like PRIM that manages $90B for 300,000 beneficiaries.
Our bill speaks to the “pension promise” as a model to rethink how billions and trillions are spent in the economy in the name of fiduciary duty. The bill argues that fiduciary duty is more than financial — which directly challenges the “sole interest” legal opinions from, recently, Kentucky and Indiana.
As an initiative distinct from oil and gas divestment, the fiduciary standards bill gets into the nitty gritty of what the law actually says about how, why and for whom $90B moves in the economy and its impact on the future viability of the pension promise.
Our briefing document is subject to change as feedback rolls in. I am happy to organize a call to present the bill, answer questions and get feedback.
Best,
Ian Edwards
ian@bankofnature.eco