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A248, R298, S241
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Senators Lourie, Knotts, Reese, Leventis, Jackson, Thomas, Pinckney, McGill, Hutto, Sheheen, Williams, Matthews, Patterson, Cromer, Scott, Setzler and Bryant
Document Path: l:\council\bills\bbm\9644htc07.doc
Introduced in the Senate on January 9, 2007
Introduced in the House on April 30, 2008
Passed by the General Assembly on May 29, 2008
Became law without Governor's signature, June 5, 2008
Summary: Retirement System Investment Commission
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS
Date Body Action Description with journal page number
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1/9/2007 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-137
1/9/2007 Senate Referred to Committee on Finance SJ-137
4/23/2008 Senate Committee report: Favorable with amendment Finance SJ-13
4/24/2008 Senate Committee Amendment Adopted SJ-35
4/24/2008 Senate Read second time SJ-35
4/25/2008 Scrivener's error corrected
4/29/2008 Senate Read third time and sent to House SJ-51
4/30/2008 House Introduced and read first time HJ-3
4/30/2008 House Referred to Committee on Ways and Means HJ-3
5/22/2008 House Recalled from Committee on Ways and Means HJ-100
5/28/2008 House Read second time HJ-174
5/29/2008 House Read third time and enrolled HJ-16
5/29/2008 Ratified R 298
6/5/2008 Became law without Governor's signature
6/10/2008 Copies available
6/10/2008 Effective date 06/05/08
6/13/2008 Act No. 248
View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
1/9/2007
4/23/2008
4/24/2008
4/25/2008
5/22/2008
(A248, R298, S241)
AN ACT TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SC 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 9-16-55 SO AS TO REQUIRE THE RETIREMENT SYSTEM INVESTMENT COMMISSION, ACTING CONSISTENTLY WITH ITS FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITY, TO DIVEST ITS PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS IN CERTAIN COMPANIES THAT IN THEIR OPERATIONS ARE COMPLICIT WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF SUDAN IN THE DARFUR GENOCIDE AND TO PROHIBIT FUTURE INVESTMENTS BY THE COMMISSION IN SUCH COMPANIES.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
Findings
SECTION 1. The General Assembly finds that:
(1) The Congress of the United States has declared that genocide is occurring in the Darfur region of Sudan.
(2) Investing public retirement funds in business firms and institutions with ties to the repressive regime in Sudan is inconsistent with the moral and political values of the people of South Carolina.
(3) Divestment is a course of last resort that should be used sparingly and under extraordinary circumstances and that the genocide occurring in the Sudan is reprehensible and abhorrent and requires special circumstance.
Investment of public employee retirement funds
SECTION 2. Article 1, Chapter 16, Title 9 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 9-16-55. (A) As used in this section:
(1) 'Active business operations' means a company engaged in business operations that provide revenue to the government of Sudan or a company engaged in oil-related activities.
(2) 'Business operations' means maintaining, selling, or leasing equipment, facilities, personnel, or any other apparatus of business or commerce in Sudan, including the ownership or possession of real or personal property located in Sudan.
(3) 'Commission' means the Retirement System Investment Commission.
(4) 'Company' means a sole proprietorship, organization, association, corporation, partnership, venture, or other entity, its subsidiary or affiliate that exists for profit-making purposes or to otherwise secure economic advantage. 'Company' also means a company owned or controlled, either directly or indirectly, by the government of Sudan, that is established or organized under the laws of or has its principal place of business in the Republic of the Sudan.
(5) 'Government of Sudan' means the government of Sudan or its instrumentalities as further defined in the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act of 2006.
(6) 'Invest' or 'investment' means the purchase, ownership, or control of stock of a company, association, or corporation, the capital stock of a mutual water company or corporation, bonds issued by the government or a political subdivision of Sudan, corporate bonds, or other debt instruments issued by a company. It does not include indirect beneficial ownership through index funds, commingled funds, limited partnerships, derivative instruments, or the like.
(7) 'Military equipment' means weapons, arms, or military defense supplies.
(8) 'Oil-related activities' means, but is not limited to, the export of oil, extracting or producing oil, exploration for oil, or the construction or maintenance of a pipeline, refinery, or other oil field infrastructure.
(9) 'Public employee retirement funds' means those assets as defined in Section 9-16-10(1).
(10) 'Substantial action' means a boycott of the government of Sudan, curtailing business in Sudan until that time described in subsection (E), selling company assets, equipment, or real and personal property located in Sudan, or undertaking significant humanitarian efforts in the eastern, southern, or western regions of Sudan.
(11) 'Sudan' means the Republic of the Sudan, a territory under the administration or control of the government of Sudan, including, but not limited to, the Darfur region, or an individual, company, or public agency located in Khartoum, northern Sudan, or the Nile River Valley that supports the Republic of the Sudan.
(B) The commission shall not invest public employee retirement funds in a company with business operations in Sudan if:
(1)(a) the company is engaged in active business operations in Sudan; or
(b) the company is not engaged in oil-related activities and lacks significant business operations in the eastern, southern, and western regions of Sudan; and
(2)(a) the company is engaged in oil-related activities or energy or power-related operations, or contracts with another company with business operations in the oil, energy, and power sectors of Sudan, and the company has failed to take substantial action related to the government of Sudan because of the Darfur genocide; or
(b) the company has demonstrated complicity in the Darfur genocide.
(C) Notwithstanding subsection (B), the commission shall not invest public employee retirement funds in a company that supplies military equipment within the borders of Sudan. If a company provides equipment within the borders of Sudan that may be readily used for military purposes, including, but not limited to, radar systems and military-grade transport vehicles, there is a strong presumption against investing in that company unless that company implements safeguards to prevent the use of that equipment for military purposes.
(D)(1) Nothing in this section requires the commission to take action as described in this section unless the commission determines, in good faith, that the action described in this section is consistent with the fiduciary responsibilities of the commission as described in this chapter and there are appropriated funds of the State to absorb the expenses of the commission to implement this section.
(2) Subsection (B) does not apply to:
(a) investments in a company that is primarily engaged in supplying goods or services intended to relieve human suffering in Sudan;
(b) investments in a company that promotes health, education, journalistic, or religious activities in or welfare in the western, eastern, or southern regions of Sudan;
(c) investments in a United States company that is authorized by the federal government to have business operations in Sudan.
(E) The restrictions provided for in this section apply only until:
(1) the government of Sudan halts the genocide in Darfur for twelve months as determined by both the Department of State and the Congress of the United States; or
(2) the United States revokes its current sanctions against Sudan.
(F) Present, future, and former board members, officers, and employees of the State Budget and Control Board, the Retirement System Investment Commission, and contract investment managers retained by the commission must be indemnified from the general fund of the State and held harmless by the State from all claims, demands, suits, actions, damages, judgments, costs, charges, and expenses, including court costs and attorney's fees, and against all liability, losses, and damages of any nature whatsoever that these present, future, or former board members, officers, employees, or contract investment managers shall or may at any time sustain by reason of any decision to restrict, reduce, or eliminate investments pursuant to this section."
Time effective
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
Ratified the 29th day of May, 2008.
Became law without the signature of the Governor -- 6/5/08.
This web page was last updated on Monday, October 10, 2011 at 1:27 P.M.