Latest news with #GlennHegar
New York Post
43 minutes ago
- Business
- New York Post
BlackRock removed from Texas investment blacklist after rolling back woke policies: ‘We're seeing a course correction'
BlackRock has been removed from Texas's investment blacklist, a major reversal that follows the asset management giant's decision to scale back some of its controversial climate commitments. The move, announced Tuesday by Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar, ends a three-year ban that had prevented state pension and investment funds from doing business with the world's largest asset manager over its environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies. 3 BlackRock CEO Larry Fink is seen above on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in April 2025. REUTERS 'This marks a meaningful shift,' Hegar said. 'Texas has played a leadership role in standing up to financial institutions that try to push political agendas under the guise of environmental concern. We're seeing a course correction.' Texas funds hold an estimated $50 billion in assets. A BlackRock spokesperson told The Post: 'We appreciate the Comptroller's resolution of this matter.' 'More than $4 billion in Texas funds are invested with BlackRock,' the rep said. The Larry Fink-led company had $11.55 trillion in assets under management at the end of the fourth quarter in 2024. We are 'proud to help millions of Texans retire with dignity and, on behalf of clients, invests over $400 billion in corporations, local governments, energy infrastructure and other private assets throughout the state,' the spokesperson said 'These investments support the continued growth of the Texas economy.' BlackRock had drawn fire from Republican-led states like Texas for supporting climate-focused investment strategies and for its involvement in initiatives aimed at reducing global emissions. 3 Texas has taken action against companies that have adopted ESG (environmental, social and governance) investment strategies. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is pictured. Jay Janner/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images But over the past year, the New York City-based firm has distanced itself from some of those efforts. In January, it exited the Climate Action 100+ investor group. It also withdrew from the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative, a UN-backed coalition focused on reducing portfolio emissions. The rollback appears to have helped smooth tensions with officials in Texas, where fossil fuels remain a key pillar of the economy and political identity. The Texas comptroller's office had added BlackRock and other financial firms to its restricted list in 2022 after lawmakers passed legislation targeting perceived boycotts of the oil and gas industry. That law required the comptroller to identify firms that 'discriminate' against fossil fuel companies and to direct state funds to divest from them. Since then, the blacklist has become a flashpoint in the national debate over ESG investing. 3 BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, overseeing $11.6 trillion in investments across global markets for governments, institutions and individuals. REUTERS While many conservatives have argued that large asset managers wield too much influence in promoting progressive agendas, others — including some within the financial industry — warned that the restrictions risked limiting returns and politicizing fiduciary decision-making. BlackRock has repeatedly pushed back on claims that it engages in coordinated efforts to undermine the fossil fuel sector. 'We never set out to penalize any company,' Hegar said Tuesday, 'but we made clear there would be consequences for putting politics ahead of financial performance.' Despite the thaw in relations, BlackRock remains the subject of a separate legal fight with a coalition of Republican attorneys general, including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who allege the firm has violated antitrust laws through its ESG commitments. BlackRock has denied the charges, calling them baseless.
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Texas allows state agency investment in BlackRock after firm steps away from climate initiatives
The Texas Comptroller's office removed international investment giant BlackRock Inc. from a list of companies public agencies were required to divest from as the company has realigned with state law by withdrawing from key clean energy initiatives. Senate Bill 13, passed in 2021, requires the comptroller's office to maintain a list of financial firms that 'boycott' the fossil fuel industry, and included BlackRock, several other companies and roughly 350 investment funds before Tuesday's update. Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar called the removal of BlackRock and over a dozen investment funds a 'meaningful victory' for Texas' energy economy but clarified in a statement that the list or divestment proceedings were not done to intentionally target companies. 'We never set out to punish any of these firms, and the hope was always that any firm we included on the list would eventually take steps to ensure they were removed,' Hegar said. SB 13 defines boycotting as refusing, terminating or penalizing business with a company that works in the fossil fuel industry 'without ordinary business purpose.' Known as an 'anti-ESG (environment, social and governance) law,' the bill led the Teacher Retirement System of Texas and the Texas Permanent School Fund to divest billions from BlackRock in 2023 and 2024. The firm was placed on the initial list in 2022 for its involvement in initiatives like Climate Action 100+, which aims to reduce corporate greenhouse gas emissions. Direct investment into fossil fuel companies does not preclude firms from being considered as boycotting, according to an information sheet from the state comptroller's office. BlackRock has since stepped back from Climate Action 100+ and completely removed itself from another initiative, Net Zero Asset Managers, which the comptroller's office attributed to the company's removal. In a statement to the Texas Tribune, John Kelly, BlackRock global head of corporate affairs, said they appreciated the comptroller's resolution and touted the firm's investment in other state affairs. 'BlackRock is proud to help millions of Texans retire with dignity and, on behalf of clients, invests over $400 billion in corporations, local governments, energy infrastructure and other private assets throughout the state,' Kelly said. 'These investments support the continued growth of the Texas economy.' Among the firm's in-state investments is assistance in creating a Texas-based Stock Exchange, which aims to launch in February 2026 with a boost from new legislation signed by Gov. Greg Abbott in mid-May. BlackRock was one of the initial investors, and Hegar said that while the investment in the stock exchange plan was unrelated to the list update, it represented 'a real commitment to overall policy changes.' BlackRock's removal from the divestment list has not completely withdrawn the business from scrutiny by Texas officials. Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the company and two others in November 2024, claiming they comprised an 'investment cartel' that intentionally bought shares in coal companies to reduce output and achieve clean energy standards. The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice submitted a joint statement of interest in the case in late May. Hegar touched on the suit briefly in his remarks, but said the company's move away from clean energy initiatives is a signal of good favor. 'Even as legislators and state leaders continue to address lingering concerns about proxy voting and other policies that prioritize politics over profits, I am hopeful these actions represent a long-term shift,' Hegar said. Hegar and Paxton are facing their own lawsuit over SB 13 in federal court from the American Sustainable Business Council, a progressive business group. The suit claims the law violates companies' First and Fourteenth Amendment rights by discriminating against firms' viewpoints and circumventing due process. That suit is scheduled for a motion hearing on June 18. First round of TribFest speakers announced! Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas are taking the stage Nov. 13–15 in Austin. Get your tickets today!
Reuters
21 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
BlackRock removed from Texas boycott list after quitting climate groups
June 3 (Reuters) - Texas on Tuesday removed BlackRock (BLK.N), opens new tab from a list of companies seen as boycotting the energy industry, a step the New York asset manager won only with steep cuts to its climate ambitions. Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar said the decision reflected BlackRock's retreats from industry climate groups like the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative. He also noted how the firm has lowered its support for shareholder environmental resolutions and backed a new Texas Stock Exchange. BlackRock "has acknowledged the real social and economic costs, both here in Texas and globally, that come from limiting investment in the oil and gas industry," Hegar said in a statement. The delisting will make it easier for Texas state agencies and funds to do business with the top asset manager. It could also help BlackRock answer claims brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over its environmental record. BlackRock representatives did not immediately comment. Hegar had added BlackRock and various European managers to his list in 2022 under a state law passed the prior year in response to Wall Street's embrace, at the time, of environmental and social investment priorities. Faced with the political pressure, various BlackRock rivals had also left industry climate groups and cut back on their support for shareholder resolutions, which called for changes like emissions cuts or limits. Democratic leaders and climate activists, opens new tab have accused the companies of going soft on their support for environmental matters they once touted.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Down to the wire: A $338B Texas budget, new rules for faculty senates at universities
Day 138 of the 140-day session of the Legislature resembled a volleyball game where the ball was the scores of bills trying to make through the process and the net was the Capitol rotunda that separates the House from the Senate. Here are some of the highlights from Saturday's action. Both Houses signed off on the $338 billion spending plan to fund state government for the two-year cycle that begins Sept. 1. The total — the product of negotiations and compromises hammered out by a House-Senate conference committee — was slightly more than either chamber proposed when each passed its own version of the budget. The spending plan, which is subject to certification by Comptroller Glenn Hegar, includes $65 billion for the state's sundry education programs and $44 billion for health and human services programs. Assuming that certification is granted, Gov. Greg Abbott can either sign it into law or veto it. A third option for Abbott is the line-item veto that allows the governor to redline individual appropriations if he chooses. The budget represents an increase of 1.2% from the present two-year budget. The document would also, to some degree, tap the breaks on Abbott's border security plan known as Operation Lone Star, which so far has cost Texas taxpayers more than $11 billion since 2021. The 2026-27 budget would allocate $3.4 billion for border security. That's down from about $6.5 billion proposed in the chambers' earlier versions. Now that President Donald Trump has returned to the White House, federal allocations for border security are expected to be stepped up. Both chambers have approved and sent to the governor, sweeping legislation that seeks to limit faculty authority over university governance. The bill also expands the governor-appointed board of regents' control over core curriculum, degrees and hiring, and create an investigative office to handle complaints of noncompliance against universities. The bill also includes provisions to initiate a review of all core courses to ensure alignment with workforce readiness and prohibits any required class from advocating or promoting the idea that one race, sex, religion or ethnicity is "inherently superior to any other." Public school students would no longer be allowed to use cellphones in school under legislation that is now on its way to the governor. House Bill 1481 would allow local school boards to decide how the law would be applied. Exemptions would be available for students who require phones for medical and personal safety purposes. If Abbott signs the measure, students could not use their cellphones during the school day. Here's how the Texas Legislative Reference Library explains the process by which the governor signs or vetoes bills that pass both chambers and arrives at his desk: "Bills that pass the House and Senate are sent to the Governor to sign or veto. The Governor has 10 days (not counting Sundays) to return the bill to the Legislature with objection. If after 10 days the bill is not returned to the Legislature by the Governor with objections, the bill becomes law as if the Governor had signed it. "If the Legislature has adjourned sine die, or if the bill is presented to the governor less than 10 days (not counting Sundays) prior to final adjournment, the Governor has 20 days (counting Sundays) after the final day of the session to sign or veto the bill. If neither action is taken, the bill becomes law without the Governor's signature." The last day in the process this go-round is June 22. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas Legislature tries to pass last bills in the final weekend
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Emergency prep supplies are sales tax free during holiday
AUSTIN, Texas (KETK) — Texans can purchase certain emergency preparation supplies without paying sales tax during a tax holiday from April 26-28. AMBER Alert: 15-year-old girl last seen in North Richland Hills Texas Comptroller, Glenn Hegar, reminds Texans of the state's sales tax holiday from 12:01 a.m. April 26 to midnight April 28. Some items you can purchase sales tax free include household batteries, fuel containers and flashlights priced less than $75. Hegar notes that online purchases will include delivery, shipping, handling and transportation charges as part of the sales price. This means if you purchase an emergency ladder online for $299 with a $10 delivery charge, the total sales price comes out to $309. Tax is due on the $309 sales price since the total sales price of the emergency ladder is more than $300. National Prescription Drug Take Back Day returning this weekend 'While we can't know in advance when the next fire, flood, tornado or hurricane may occur, we can make sure our families, homes and businesses have the supplies they need to face these and other emergencies,' Hegar said. 'Don't wait for disaster to strike. I'm encouraging Texans to take advantage of this tax holiday to save money while stocking up for emergency situations.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
