Committee urges California pension funds not to invest in Sudan

SACRAMENTO, Mar 16, 2005 (AP) — California’s combined $309 billion retirement funds for public employees and teachers would be urged to avoid investing in global companies doing business with Sudan under a resolution that cleared a key Assembly committee Wednesday.

A 4-1 vote by the Assembly Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security Committee sent the resolution toward a full Assembly floor vote.

The New Jersey Assembly has already approved such a resolution, while similar legislation has been introduced in Arizona, Texas and Illinois. The moves are part of a national campaign to pressure public pension funds to divest of Sudan-related holdings.

The California resolution was introduced by Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally, D-Compton, a former U.S. representative who chaired the Africa subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Dymally said the resolution, which is nonbinding on the $182.9 billion California Public Employees Retirement System and $126 billion California State Teachers Retirement System, would help states bring pressure on the Sudanese government to end what Congress has called a genocide in its Darfur region.

Supporters include U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, who visited Sudan in January and said in a letter to the committee that “divestment is not just a feel good option, it works.”

CalPERS divested of its South Africa holdings during a similar campaign in 1986.

Neither pension fund objected to the resolution Wednesday.

CalPERS, which oversees retirement savings of 1.4 million state and local government employees, says it has invested in 11 firms that did business in Sudan, but most appeared to be very limited. It was not immediately clear whether CalSTRS has Sudanese investments.

ON THE NET

Read ACR11 at http://www.legislature.ca.gov

The Sudan Campaign: http://www.sudancampaign.com