The War on Ice Cream

[patric]

Legislation sent to Gov. Kevin Stitt on Wednesday would bar state government from doing business with financial institutions that “boycott energy companies” — unless doing so would cost the state money.

House Bill 2034, by Rep. Mark McBride, R-Moore, appears to be part of a larger national effort to shield fossil fuel industries from disinvestment by banks and other lenders.

A critic of the bill, Rep. Andy Fugate, D-Oklahoma City, noted that HB 2034 was three pages long when it left the House earlier this spring and came back from the Senate at 19 pages — most of which, Fugate said, seemed to be cribbed from other states’ bills.

The bill requires the treasurer to maintain “a list of financial companies that boycott energy companies.” Governmental entities, including pension funds, are to divest themselves of investments in those institutions unless the institutions show they are not discriminating against fossil fuel-related companies.

The House sent HB 2034 to the governor one day after passing a resolution seeking to expand the state’s feud with ice cream-maker Ben and Jerry’s.

Two years ago the House passed and Stitt signed legislation barring the state from doing business with companies boycotting Israel because of its treatment of Palestinians.

A year ago Ben and Jerry’s said it would no longer sell ice cream in the occupied West Bank, prompting U.S. Sen. James Lankford to call for Oklahoma to bar the state from doing business with the popular brand and to ban it outright in the state.

Tuesday’s HR 1063, also by McBride, broadens the attack to Unilever, Ben and Jerry’s parent company, which the resolution indicates has basically ignored the state’s demands to comply with the state law.

https://tulsaworld.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/house-sends-governor-ban-on-anti-fossil-fuel-financial-institutions/article_44731206-cbd5-11ec-b168-5f1973ceb0bb.html

[tulsabug]

Oh but I thought Republicans were all about Freedumb and Free Market and Capitalism and so on. A company has every right to sell or not sell their products wherever as they see fit, sanctions excluded of course. Now I doubt the state uses much from Unilever to begin with but honestly why are they not already getting their soap and ice cream from Oklahoma companies? That should be rule #1 on state purchases - buy from in-state manufacturers if at all possible.

Also - I really love that Skankford wants to ban a company from selling their products in Oklahoma and then because they won't sell ice cream in parts of Israel? What idiots voted for this soulless wonder?