Latest news with #HouseBill1319
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
North Dakota Senate defeats bill that aimed to divest Legacy Fund from China
Sen. Jerry Klein, R-Fessenden, testifies against a bill that sought to authorize the State Investment Board to divest the Legacy Fund from Chinese investments. (Jeff Beach / North Dakota Monitor) The North Dakota Senate on Tuesday sank a bill that would have authorized the State Investment Board to divest from Legacy Fund holdings in companies headquartered in China. Under the 'prudent investor rule,' which governs trustees of investment portfolios, the board must prefer 'qualified investment firms and financial institutions with a presence in the state.' It cannot choose not to favor a company purely based on its home country. The bill, which failed by a 20-26 vote, would have updated this language to let the board voluntarily cut ties with Chinese businesses. Bill requiring Legacy Fund disclosure website sees support in North Dakota Legislature According to the North Dakota Retirement and Investment Office, that applies to only about $246 million of the $12 billion in the fund. That equates to about 2.1% Primary sponsor Rep. Bernie Satrom, R-Jamestown, has said North Dakota should do away with holdings in Chinese companies due to human rights abuses committed by the Chinese Communist Party, as well as concerns that China's government is a national security threat to the United States. Sen. Sean Cleary, R-Bismarck, said he supported the bill because it addresses these problems while still giving the State Investment Board flexibility over the fund's investments. 'Our own intelligence agency has identified that there are significant threats that come from the Chinese Communist Party,' he said on the Senate floor. North Dakota Legacy Fund takes big hit amid stock market volatility Critics of the bill said it would hamper growth of the Legacy Fund by discouraging investment in an entire country's market. Sen. Jerry Klein, R-Fessenden, said it's unusual for North Dakota to single out countries in state law. The closest comparison may be a 2023 law the North Dakota Legislature adopted prohibiting investment practices that would result in a boycott of Israel. Klein said many Chinese companies are good-faith business partners to the United States and shouldn't be penalized just because of where they're located. The Retirement and Investment Board took a neutral stance on the bill. Earlier this month, the Senate passed another Legacy Fund-related policy, House Bill 1319, which requires the Retirement and Investment Office to create a website detailing Legacy Fund holdings. Gov. Kelly Armstrong signed the bill into law last week. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bill requiring Legacy Fund disclosure website sees support in North Dakota Legislature
Rep. Bernie Satrom, R-Jamestown, speaks on the House floor on March 25, 2025. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor) The state may soon start development on a new website detailing its Legacy Fund holdings after the North Dakota Senate last week unanimously passed an investment transparency bill. The Legacy Fund, worth more than $12 billion as of January, is a state trust fund supported by oil revenue. It was created by a ballot measure approved by voters in 2010 with the goal of being a source of perpetual revenue for the state. House Bill 1319, sponsored by Rep. Bernie Satrom, R-Jamestown, says the website must include all Legacy Fund 'companies, funds and other financial mechanisms in which the Legacy Fund is invested,' so long as the information may be disclosed under state and federal law. 'Some people don't care what they're invested in,' Satrom said in February testimony on the bill before the House Finance and Taxation Committee. 'To me, it matters.' The North Dakota Retirement and Investment Office estimated the cost for the website at about $421,000, according to a fiscal note attached to the bill. It said it would cost around $27,500 annually to maintain the website. The House in February approved the bill by a vote of 92-1. The Retirement and Investment Office also supports the bill. Interim Executive Director Jodi Smith said that the agency already shares a wealth of information online about the fund, but a new website could make it more straightforward for members of the public to digest. 'I feel like all that language and information is on our website, but if you've been on our website and try to find it all, it can be a bit cumbersome,' Smith said. 'It's not easy to navigate.' The office expects the website to save both state employees and members of the public a lot of time and effort. Smith said that about a third of records requests filed with the Retirement and Investment Office relate to the Legacy Fund. The agency has dedicated thousands of dollars worth of staff time to fulfilling the records requests, she said. Getting a website up and running will take a long time, Smith said. The agency hopes to have an interface similar to one that Norway uses for its sovereign wealth fund, which allows visitors to sort all of its investments by country. 'It might take us a couple of years to get there,' she said. The Retirement and Investment Office already discloses how much Legacy Fund money is invested in particular companies, Smith said. However, for a portion of the money invested in commingled funds, the agency does not disclose which investments are made by specific fund managers. Smith said this would violate the agency's contracts with those managers. About $3.1 billion of the Legacy Fund is in these commingled funds, also known as institutional funds. 'We can't reveal a fund manager's investment strategy,' she said. Bismarck attorney Tory Jackson last year asked for the North Dakota Attorney General's Office to weigh in on whether the Retirement and Investment Office violated public records laws by withholding this information. Gov. Kelly Armstrong during his campaign for governor advocated for more transparency with Legacy Fund investments. He is now chair of the State Investment Board. Another Legacy Fund-related bill sponsored by Satrom, House Bill 1330, would instruct the State Investment Board to divest from all Chinese companies. The Senate has yet to vote on the bill. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Florida utilities lobbying hard to kill bill curbing profits, lawmaker says
A bill that would curb Florida utility companies' profits and force them to disclose their executives' pay passed its first committee in Tallahassee this week. Even the bill sponsor, Republican Sen. Don Gaetz, was a little surprised. 'As recently as 15 minutes before I presented the bill, I was told I did not have the votes,' Gaetz said, adding that a legislative staffer had delivered the message. Utility companies are some of the most powerful special interests in Florida. And they have been lobbying hard behind-the-scenes to kill Senate Bill 354, Gaetz said. 'Other senators have told me that they have faced some pretty significant lobbying,' he said, calling the industry effort 'fierce and well funded.' He previously told the Tampa Bay Times that executives with Florida Power & Light met with him days after he filed the proposal to voice their opposition. Gaetz's bill initially faced even longer odds because it did not have a House companion. Proposals need to pass both chambers of the Legislature to become law. But late last month, Rep. Alex Andrade, who is also a Republican from the Panhandle, filed House Bill 1319, which contains some of the same language. It lacks the most hard-hitting portions related to electric utilities. Andrade didn't respond to a voicemail or texts seeking comment. That hasn't stopped the companies from lobbying on it. House records show four Florida Power & Light lobbyists registered to the bill. The company, which is the largest utility in the country, has a massive cadre of 37 lobbyists in Tallahassee, including a former DeSantis chief of staff and other high-profile names. In an email, a spokesperson for the company declined to comment. Last month, Florida Power & Light asked for a nearly $9 billion increase to customers' base rates over the next four years, which affordability advocates called the largest rate hike request in American history. Multiple lobbyists from the Associated Industries of Florida, a powerful business group that's received political contributions from utilities including Duke Energy and Tampa Electric, have also signed up to lobby on the House bill. Neither Duke Energy nor Tampa Electric lobbyists are registered to the bill, and the companies previously declined to disclose their stance on the proposal to the Times. High electricity costs have become a focus of Panhandle Republicans after the parent company of Florida Power & Light recently acquired Gulf Power, which served parts of Northwest Florida. Since that merger, residents' bills have gone up, sparking angry crowds at local government meetings and a petition asking Pensacola to form its own municipal utility, according to the Pensacola News Journal. No utility representatives spoke during the Wednesday hearing on Gaetz's bill in the Senate Regulated Industries committee. In addition to curbing shareholder profits, the bill would add two members to the Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities, and require that they have financial expertise to better analyze complex rate hike requests. 'High utility costs are making it harder and harder for people like me to afford necessities,' a Hillsborough County resident named Sabrina Christie told the committee. She was among of group of members from the seniors advocacy group AARP who urged lawmakers to support the bill. Christie said she opposed Tampa Electric's base rate hikes last year. During days of lengthy public meetings in the Tampa Bay area, residents implored regulators not to increase their costs. Still, the company got much of what it asked for. 'That experience made it clear to me we need stronger protections to ensure rate increases are fair,' Christie said. The bill passed the committee 5-2, with Republican Sens. Joe Gruters and Jim Boyd, the Senate majority leader, voting against. Gaetz, who is a former president of the Florida Senate and the father of ex-U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, said he's unsure of the measure's long-term chances, though he will keep trying to advance it. 'If you're a betting person, you should always bet on the utilities and their political clout in Tallahassee,' he said. 'We hope for the best going forward.'
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
House committee approves amended bill on Legacy Fund disclosure
Feb. 6—BISMARCK — The House Finance and Taxation Committee approved an amendment to a bill on Wednesday, Feb. 5, relating to a website that would disclose all North Dakota Legacy Fund investments. Introduced by Reps. Mitch Ostlie and Bernie Satrom, both R-Jamestown, House Bill 1319 would require the State Investment Board to maintain a website accessible by the public containing information regarding all Legacy Fund investments. Sen. Cole Conley, R-Jamestown, is carrying the legislation in the Senate. The amendment removes the requirement of the website to list all companies, funds, derivatives and other financial mechanisms in which the Legacy Fund is invested along with the country of incorporation for each investment. The website will no longer be required to list the county of the principle manager of the fund, derivative or other financial mechanism. The amendment also removes the requirement of the website to list the amount of Legacy Fund money invested in a company, fund, derivative or other financial mechanism. The amended bill now says the website must list all companies, funds and other financial mechanisms in which the Legacy Fund is invested in accordance with state and federal laws. The bill also says the North Dakota Retirement and Investment Office may spend funds necessary for the development and maintenance of the website within the limits of legislative appropriations. The fiscal impact of building the new website and hiring an additional full-time employee would be about $461,000 for the 2025-27 biennium. For the 2027-29 biennium, the fiscal impact would be over $246,700. In 2010, North Dakota voters approved a measure that created the Legacy Fund, which is a perpetual source of state revenue from the finite national resources of oil and natural gas, according to the Office of State Treasurer's website. Thirty percent of the taxes on petroleum produced and extracted in North Dakota are transferred to the Legacy Fund monthly, according to the North Dakota Retirement and Investment Office's website. The Legacy Fund has almost $11.5 billion as of Oct. 31. The State Investment Board has statutory responsibility for the administration of the investment programs of several funds including the Legacy Fund, according to the Retirement and Investment Office's website. Satrom spoke in support of the bill on Tuesday, saying that there is $3.1 billion invested from the Legacy Fund where the underlying investments are hidden from public view. "The problem is we have $3.1 billion we really don't know about," he said. "Somebody signed contracts that said we can't know. ... If it's the people's money, we have a higher responsibility. We have responsibilities to them." He said the Legacy Fund could be invested in derivatives. "You really don't own it. It's kind of like a bet," he said. "Warren Buffet ... called it weapons of mass financial destruction." He also said the Legacy Fund is being invested in foreign countries, including China. He said the Legacy Fund was also invested in Russian government bonds before it invaded Ukraine. He said those investments were divested after Ukraine was invaded. Satrom previously told The Jamestown Sun that the Legacy Fund is or has been invested in over 60 foreign countries, including Argentina, China, Columbia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Mexico, Togo and Turkey. He said the general public would be "appalled" if they knew the Legacy Fund was or is invested in Russia or China. "I don't care how much money you make. If it's morally wrong, then I think it's morally wrong," he said. "I don't think you can justify (Chinese investments) with any amount of money." Satrom said an attorney general's opinion has not been issued for an open records request regarding Legacy Fund investments. Tory Jackson, a Bismarck attorney, wrote in a column for the North Dakota Monitor that he requested a list of all foreign and domestic holdings and the investments made by each private money manager hired by the State Investment Board. He also requested information about the investments made by 50 South Capital, a Chicago-based firm, that is responsible for the portion of the Legacy Fund that is supposed to be invested in North Dakota. Jackson wrote in his column that the list of Legacy Fund investments as of Nov. 30, 2023, contains "a few curious items, including over $160 million invested in the 'emerging markets region,' over $520 million in the 'global region,' and nearly $46 million in the 'international region.' " The list of those Legacy Fund investments shows no countries that the money managers have invested in and only categorizes the investments being in the "global region," "international region" and "emerging markets region." Jackson requested an opinion from North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley on Feb. 9, 2024, on whether the North Dakota Retirement and Investment Office violated the open records law. The opinion has not been issued. In a letter to former Lt. Gov. Tammy Miller, who formerly chaired the State Investment Board, Conley asks why Jackson was denied information about foreign investments in categories such as "global region," "international region" and "emerging markets region" but not for other investments in countries that range from Argentina to Thailand. In a response to Conley's letter, Miller wrote that Jackson was not denied information about foreign investments in categories such as "global region," "international region" and "emerging markets region." She wrote that certain investments such as commingled funds that have exposure in more than one country of risk are listed by regional categories because "to do otherwise would require RIO to alter the record from its custodian and thus be less transparent." "Further there is significant additional information regarding country of risk exposure of such funds available in reports that RIO publishes on its website," Miller wrote. The Retirement and Investment Office and the State Investment Board support the establishment of a website dedicated to the Legacy Fund, said Jodi Smith, interim executive director of the Retirement and Investment Office, in her testimony opposing HB 1319. "My concern is that as that fund grows, the light that's shining on it is also going to grow," she said. "The more money you have, the more attention you are going to get. If we continue to grow at $2 billion a biennium, as that fund continues to grow, there is going to be more and more questions. There's going to be a higher light on that. Just creating that transparency, so it's easier to digest and more easier to synthesize, I think is in the best interests of everyone." She said the website needs to be simple for the public to find the Legacy Fund investments. She said individuals shouldn't have to open a PDF that is 100 pages long. "Then you have to understand how to read it," she said. The original bill "risks undermining the very investment strategies that have allowed the fund to grow and generate substantial earnings for North Dakota," according to written testimony by the Retirement and Investment Office opposing the bill. "The proposed public disclosure requirements would create contractual conflicts, limit investment opportunities, and expose the fund's strategies to undue market risks," the written testimony says. Smith said the amendment will allow the website to list the companies, funds and other financial mechanisms of how the Legacy Fund is invested in accordance with state and federal laws. "If the law requires that we disclose certain information, then we want to be prepared to disclose that," she said. "If the law says no you cannot or should not disclose that information then we won't." She said what can be disclosed is where the Legacy Fund is invested, the country of origin and how much each fund manager has. "It's that in between that is less than clear at this point in time," Smith said. "The agency has interpreted the statute that we can't disclose that information. There is an attorney general's opinion pending whether or not we need to disclose that." She said disclosing the information of the $3.1 billion that Satrom says are underlying investments hidden from public view would lose some investors. "They would probably pull out of the investments and there might be some legal challenges because we would then be disclosing the proprietary information," Smith said. "If that's what the Legislature chooses, we just need to be prepared for that outcome, the consequences. We can do that, it's just then we probably would take a step back from some of the earnings that we have there." Smith said the website would also cut down on the open records requests regarding the Legacy Fund. She said the Retirement and Investment Office is only receiving open records requests for the Legacy Fund.
CBS News
05-02-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Maryland lawmakers renew push to legalize internet gambling
BALTIMORE -- Maryland lawmakers are renewing a push to legalize internet gambling in Maryland. House Bill 1319, Internet Gaming—Authorization and Implementation, is the latest proposed legislation to establish a regulated online gambling system in Maryland. The legislation is sponsored by Maryland Delegate Vanessa Atterbeary. Per the bill, the State Lottery and Gaming Control Commission will issue internet gaming licenses to qualified applicants, which would include casinos, licensed sports betting facilities, and other businesses. The bill establishes a licensing process, with the first round of licenses reserved for social equity applicants, including businesses with 33% minority ownership. Revenue portions to be used for state programs Under the proposed legislation, revenue from online gambling would be transferred to the State Lottery Fund, with licensees retaining 80% of the proceeds from live dealer games, and 45% of the proceeds from all other internet gaming. The remaining funds would be distributed to several state programs. For the first 12 months that internet gaming is in operation, up to $10 million will be allocated to the Video Lottery Facility Employee Displacement Fund, which would support workers at existing casinos who lose their jobs or face reduced work hours due to the expansion of Internet gaming. The fund would ideally mitigate the negative impact of online gambling on brick-and-mortar casino jobs. Funding would also be allocated for local jurisdictions where physical casinos are located. The amount each jurisdiction receives would be based on its share of overall gross revenue generated by video lottery terminals. The overall pool available to local jurisdictions would increase each year. Funding available to local jurisdictions by year: $6.5 million in FY 2026 $8.3 million in FY 2027 $10 million in FY 2028 $11.3 million in FY 2029 $11.4 million in FY 2030 1% of all proceeds would go to the State Lottery and Gaming Control Agency for regulatory activities and investigations, and an additional 1% would go to the state's Problem Gambling Fund. Counties would also receive 1% for education programs, with the distribution based on the population of students. The remainder of the funds would go towards education reform, through the Blueprint for Maryland's Future Fund. Revenue from sports betting, which became legal in Maryland in June 2021, already goes towards the fund. As of December 2024, more than $116 million in funding from sports betting had gone to the fund. Previous pushes to legalize internet gaming This is not the first time lawmakers have attempted to legalize internet gambling in Maryland. Senate Bill 603, which was proposed in 2024, aimed to legalize online poker and casino games. That bill, which was backed by Senator Ron Watson, got pushback over concerns that it would worsen gambling addiction. That bill did not advance, however.
