Feb. 27, 2008--Utah State Retirement Funds invest in 43 companies currently doing business in Iran. Iran uses those revenues to support international terrorism.
Utah Bill H.B. 39 (authored by Representative Julie Fisher, a Republican from the Salt Lake City area) to divest Utah's pension system from foreign companies doing business in Iran passed the Utah House last week, despite the opposition of the powerful chair of the House Appropriations Committee.
Details on the bill can be found here.
The bill now goes to the Senate where, unfortunately, it may be dead on arrival. It has been referred to the Senate Retirement Committee. The chair of that committee is Senator Curtis Bramble, who also happens to be the Senate Majority Leader. Senator Bramble flip-flopped on this issue. When this issue went before a joint Senate-House Retirement Committee hearing in November, Bramble supported it. He even pushed for a vote when one was not scheduled. The joint committee reported it 14-2. Now Bramble wants to kill this bill. The main reason is the influence of an Iranian-American named Khosrow Semnani who is a big donor to politicians there, but also pled guilty to tax evasion at one point.
Utah Bill H.B. 39 would divest pension funds from companies doing business with Iran. Some legislators complain that the $2.7 million price tag is too much. What about the cost of supporting a regime that sponsors international terrorism? The following Utah Senators have the power to pass the Iran Divestment Bill:
John W. Hickman - 435-674-5203
Peter C. Knudson - 435-723-6366
Gregory S. Bell - 801-971-2001
D. Chris Buttars - 801-561-0535
Darin Peterson - 435-623-2271
Gene Davis - 801-484-9428
Karen Mayne - 801-968-7756
Divest terror - Divest Iran - Support H.B. 39 - the Iran Divestment Bill
Support Utah's Divestment from Iran
Christopher Holton is Vice President of Marketing at the Center for Security Policy and Director of CSP's Divest Terror Initiative. Holton came to the Center after serving as President and Marketing Director of Blanchard & Co. and editor-in-chief of the Blanchard Economic Research Unit (1990-2003). As chief of the Blanchard Economic Research Unit in 2000, he conceived and commissioned the Center for Security Policy special report 'Clinton's Legacy: The Dangerous Decade.' As Director of the Center's Divest Terror Initiative, Holton has been involved in legislative initiatives in California, Florida, New Jersey, Louisiana, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Utah, Mississippi, and Massachusetts to divest America's public pension funds from companies doing business in terrorist-sponsoring nations.
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