Legislation/Guidance in Effect
Title |
Key Dates |
Nature of |
ESG Category |
Summary |
Effective date 1/1/2024 Adopted 5/25/2023 |
Legislation |
Promote ESG Factors in Investment and/or Proxy Voting Decisions |
■ Requires every investment manager to provide a description of the process through which the manager prudently integrates sustainability factors into its investment decision-making, investment analysis, portfolio construction, due diligence, and investment ownership starting January 1, 2024. Requires such annual disclosure to be submitted to each public agency, pension fund, retirement system, and governmental unit for which the investment manager is seeking selection as a fiduciary. |
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Adopted |
Legislation |
Promote ESG Factors in Investment and/or Proxy Voting Decisions |
■ Authorizes the state treasurer to manage the State Employees' Retirement System's proxy voting activity and execute required ballots on behalf of the System. Requires the treasurer to provide the board with proxy voting reports on a quarterly basis and as requested by the Board. |
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State Treasurer testified at the US House Oversight Committee's ESG Hearing |
Adopted and in effect |
Treasurer Position |
Affirmatively Not Restricting ESG |
■ On May 10, 2023, Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs testified at the U.S. House Oversight Committee's ESG hearing as a "minority witness," claiming that his approach is "to integrate material ESG factors into investment decisions along with many other considerations" and that he is "not ignoring traditional financial factors like profitability and creditworthiness" but "integrating more data into the decisions to give a better idea of risk and growth prospects." |
Effective date |
Legislation |
Promote ESG Factors in Investment and/or Proxy Voting Decisions |
■ Directs state and local government entities that manage public funds to consider materially relevant sustainability factors, including corporate governance and leadership, environmental, social capital, human capital, and business model and innovation factors. |
Pending Legislation
Title |
Key Dates |
Nature of |
ESG Category |
Summary |
HB5201: An act to repeal the Illinois Sustainable Investing Act | Introduced 2/9/2024 | Legislation | Restrict Use of ESG Factors; Focus on Pecuniary Characteristics | ■ Legislation would repeal the Illinois Sustainable Investing Act. HB5201 amends the Public Funds Investment Act and the Illinois Pension Code to make conforming changes, including removal of sustainability factors from investment policies. |
HB5268: University of Illinois - Fossil Fuel Divestment | Introduced 2/9/2024 | Legislation | Promote Divestment from Certain Industries |
■ Amends the University of Illinois Act by providing that the Board of Trustees shall direct the University of Illinois Foundation, in accordance with sound investment criteria and consistent with fiduciary obligations, to not invest the assets of any endowment fund in the stocks, securities, or other obligations of any fossil fuel company or any subsidiary, affiliate, or parent of any fossil fuel company. ■ Provides that this does not preclude the de minimis exposure of any funds held by the endowment fund to the stocks, securities, or other obligations of any fossil fuel company or any subsidiary, affiliate, or parent of any fossil fuel company. ■ Requires the Board of Trustees to direct the University of Illinois Foundation to not invest in any prime commercial paper or corporate bonds issued by a fossil fuel company. ■ Provides that, beginning one year after the effective date, the Board of Trustees, subject to an affirmative determination of prudence and in accordance with sound investment criteria and consistent with its fiduciary obligations, shall direct the University of Illinois Foundation to ensure that any endowment fund does not have any "indirect investments" in individual fossil fuel companies. This means a holding in an investment vehicle that directly or indirectly owns a more than 1% interest in one or more individual fossil fuel companies. ■ Provides that the Board of Trustees shall direct the University of Illinois Foundation to adopt updates to its written investment policies, if necessary, to meet the requirements of these provisions and publish a copy of those updated policies within 90 days after the adoption of the updated policies. Effective immediately. |
SB3717: Fossil Fuel Divestment Act | Introduced 2/9/2024 | Legislation | Promote Divestment from Certain Industries |
■ With regard to the pension funds and retirement systems established under the General Assembly, Chicago Police, Chicago Firefighter, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF), Chicago Municipal, Chicago Laborers', State Employees, State Universities, Downstate Teachers, or Judges Article of the Code, the legislation would prohibit investment of pension system assets in fossil fuel companies. Requires pension systems to adopt an update to its written investment policies if necessary. ■ Requires each pension system to review the extent to which the assets of the pension system are invested in the stocks, securities, or other obligations of any fossil fuel company or any subsidiary, affiliate, or parent of any fossil fuel company. The board of trustees of a pension system shall, in accordance with sound investment criteria and consistent with fiduciary obligations, divest any such holdings, and such divestment must be completed by January 1, 2029. Nothing precludes de minimis exposure of any funds held by the board to the stocks, securities, or other obligations of any fossil fuel company or any subsidiary, affiliate, or parent of any fossil fuel company. ■ Further provides that, beginning one year after the effective date of the amendatory Act, the board of trustees of a pension system--subject to an affirmative determination of prudence, and in accordance with sound investment criteria and consistent with its fiduciary obligations--shall ensure that the pension system does not invest in any indirect investment vehicle unless the board of trustees is satisfied that the investment vehicle is unlikely to have more than 2% of its assets invested in coal, oil, or gas producers. ■ Requires pension systems to post on its publicly accessible website information detailing all its holdings in the public market and private equity investments. Beginning January 1, 2025 and annually thereafter, pension systems will have to issue a report reviewing its environmental, social, and governance investment policy, which must disclose commonly available environmental performance metrics on the environmental effects of the pension system's investments. ■ Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement. If enacted, the legislation would take effect immediately. |
HB3037: Prohibition of Pension Investment in Fossil Fuel Companies |
Introduced |
Legislation |
Promote Divestment from Certain Industries |
■ Prohibits pension systems from investing assets in the stocks, securities, prime commercial paper, corporate bonds, or other obligations of any fossil fuel company. Does not preclude de minimis exposure. Requires each board of trustees to ensure that the pension system does not invest in any indirect investment vehicle unless the board is satisfied that the investment vehicle is unlikely to have more than 2% of its assets invested in coal, oil, or gas producers. ■ Each pension system is required to review its assets to determine which assets are invested in fossil fuel companies and divest any such holdings (other than de minimis exposure) by January 1, 2028. ■ "Fossil fuel company" means any company that is (1) among the 200 publicly traded companies with the largest fossil fuel reserves in the world, (2) is among the 30 largest public company owners in the world of coal-fired power plants, (3) has as its core business the construction or operation of fossil fuel infrastructure, (4) has as its core business the exploration, extraction, refining, processing, or distribution of fossil fuels, or (5) that receives more than 20% of its gross revenue from companies that meet the definition of (1)-(4). ■ Requires each pension system to adopt an update to their written investment policies if necessary and to provide quarterly and annual reporting. |
Promote ESG Factors in Investment and/or Proxy Voting Decisions | ||||
Introduced |
Legislation |
Promote ESG Factors in Investment and/or Proxy Voting Decisions |
■ Requires every investment manager acting as a fiduciary of a public agency, pension fund, retirement system, or governmental unit, starting on January 1, 2024, to disclose annually the process through which the manager prudently integrates the sustainability factors into their investment analysis to maximize anticipated financial returns, identify and minimize risk, and execute the manager's fiduciary duties more effectively. |