Assembly Bill A6331A

2021-2022 Legislative Session

Establishes the teachers' fossil fuel divestment act

download bill text pdf

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Archive: Last Bill Status - In Assembly Committee


  • Introduced
    • In Committee Assembly
    • In Committee Senate
    • On Floor Calendar Assembly
    • On Floor Calendar Senate
    • Passed Assembly
    • Passed Senate
  • Delivered to Governor
  • Signed By Governor

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Bill Amendments

co-Sponsors

2021-A6331 - Details

See Senate Version of this Bill:
S4783
Current Committee:
Assembly Governmental Employees
Law Section:
Education Law
Laws Affected:
Add §508-b, Ed L
Versions Introduced in 2023-2024 Legislative Session:
A1101, S899

2021-A6331 - Summary

Establishes the teachers' fossil fuel divestment act; requires the New York state teachers' retirement system to divest the retirement system of any stocks, securities, equities, assets, or other obligations of corporations or companies included on an exclusion list of coal producers and oil and gas producers.

2021-A6331 - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6331
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              March 16, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by M. of A. KELLES -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on Governmental Employees
 
 AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring the New York
   state  teachers'  retirement system to divest the retirement system of
   any investments in corporations or companies included on an  exclusion
   list of coal producers and oil and gas producers
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the  "teachers'
 fossil fuel divestment act".
   §  2. Legislative findings. 1. a. Climate change is a real and serious
 threat to the health, welfare, and prosperity of all  New  Yorkers,  now
 and  in  the  future.  Maintaining  the status quo of fossil fuel energy
 production will lead to catastrophic results.
   b. In July 2019, New York state  passed  the  climate  leadership  and
 community  protection act and committed to reducing statewide greenhouse
 gas emissions by eighty-five percent by 2050 and net zero  emissions  in
 all  sectors  of  the  economy.  Other  cities and states have chosen to
 pursue similar paths to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
   c. The threat of climate change, and the transformation of the  global
 energy system that will be necessary to mitigate it, will have a serious
 negative  impact on investors whose assets are not aligned with the goal
 of keeping the global average temperature  increase  below  1.5  degrees
 Celsius,  as determined by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on
 Climate Change.
   d. There are no existing legal or fiduciary duties  that  require  New
 York  state's pension funds to invest in energy sources that are harmful
 to the environment, or in contradiction to  the  goals  of  the  climate
 leadership  and  community protection act. Rather, there are alternative
 investments that are available to our pension funds that do not  present
 such harms.

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

co-Sponsors

multi-Sponsors

2021-A6331A (ACTIVE) - Details

See Senate Version of this Bill:
S4783
Current Committee:
Assembly Governmental Employees
Law Section:
Education Law
Laws Affected:
Add §508-b, Ed L
Versions Introduced in 2023-2024 Legislative Session:
A1101, S899

2021-A6331A (ACTIVE) - Summary

Establishes the teachers' fossil fuel divestment act; requires the New York state teachers' retirement system to divest the retirement system of any stocks, securities, equities, assets, or other obligations of corporations or companies included on an exclusion list of coal producers and oil and gas producers.

2021-A6331A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  6331--A
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              March 16, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  KELLES, MITAYNES, THIELE, BICHOTTE HERMELYN,
   GOTTFRIED, EPSTEIN, PAULIN,  GONZALEZ-ROJAS,  CARROLL,  SIMON,  QUART,
   MAMDANI,  REYES,  FAHY, LUPARDO, GALLAGHER, McDONALD, STECK, D. ROSEN-
   THAL, CLARK, PICHARDO, SEAWRIGHT, L. ROSENTHAL, KIM, FORREST,  ZEBROW-
   SKI,  CRUZ, PERRY, JACKSON, BURGOS, WALKER, ZINERMAN, DICKENS, SEPTIMO
   -- read once and referred to the Committee on  Governmental  Employees
   --  committee  discharged,  bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended
   and recommitted to said committee
 
 AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring the New York
   state teachers' retirement system to divest the retirement  system  of
   any  investments in corporations or companies included on an exclusion
   list of coal producers and oil and gas producers
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "teachers'
 fossil fuel divestment act".
   § 2. Legislative findings. 1. a. Climate change is a real and  serious
 threat  to  the  health, welfare, and prosperity of all New Yorkers, now
 and in the future. Maintaining the status  quo  of  fossil  fuel  energy
 production will lead to catastrophic results.
   b.  In  July  2019,  New  York state passed the climate leadership and
 community protection act and committed to reducing statewide  greenhouse
 gas  emissions  by eighty-five percent by 2050 and net zero emissions in
 all sectors of the economy. Other  cities  and  states  have  chosen  to
 pursue similar paths to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
   c.  The threat of climate change, and the transformation of the global
 energy system that will be necessary to mitigate it, will have a serious
 negative impact on investors whose assets are not aligned with the  goal
 of  keeping  the  global  average temperature increase below 1.5 degrees
 Celsius, as determined by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel  on
 Climate Change.

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

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