Latest news with #StateFinancialOfficersFoundation
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Red state official recounts personal experience of being 'debanked' and why it 'has to be stopped'
EXCLUSIVE: Protecting Americans from being "debanked" has been a top priority for the State Financial Officers Foundation, and Fox News Digital spoke to a member of that organization, who said he was targeted himself, about the importance of that pursuit. "When I was initially debanked, I didn't realize I was getting debanked," Alabama Republican State Auditor Andrew Sorrell told Fox News Digital at the State Financial Officers Foundation conference in Orlando, Florida. "What happened was I just get a letter one day from our credit card company, from my gun store, Gold Guns and Guitars, and we get this curious letter in the mail, and it says that in 30 days, we're closing your account. And it didn't tell us why at all." Sorrell, 39, explained that at first he thought that his company had simply forgotten to pay their bills, but when he realized he was up-to-date, he switched credit card companies and did not think anything of it until he got another letter from his credit card processor notifying him he was being dropped. Red State Treasurer Reveals Why State Financial Officers Have 'Obligation' To Combat Esg, Dei "So we're doing about 2 million dollars in revenue, about a million and a half of that is done by credit card or debit card transactions, and I was really confused this time, because why would a credit card processor drop us?" Sorrell explained. Read On The Fox News App After that, Sorrell was told by his insurance company he was being dropped with "no explanation." "I called my insurance broker, and he said, 'Oh yeah, this is happening to all gun stores,'" Sorrell said. "He said insurance companies are dropping all gun stores. And then it hit me. Oh my goodness, I'm a victim of political debanking. I didn't even realize that that's what was happening to me." Debanking is the phenomenon in which a bank customer has their accounts canceled, often with no explanation. Conservatives have long alleged that banks were unfairly targeting them in the practice, with banks specifically going after companies with conservative messaging or principles, including gun stores. Here's What Can Be Done About Debanking, The Un-american Abuse Of Power By Regulators In an interview with "Sunday Morning Futures" anchor Maria Bartiromo, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said he had seen "numerous" examples of conservatives being debanked during the Biden administration. "Especially people that were involved in different energy-type businesses and things like that, as well as very well-spoken and outspoken conservative activists," Comer said in the interview. "So there are numerous instances, enough to open an investigation again. Is this [environmental, social and governance (ESG)] policy, which is discriminatory?" Sorrell told Fox News Digital he is "convinced this is happening to other people in Alabama," and that the problem doesn't stem from local community banks but from large national banks who were "pushed" by the Obama and Biden administrations. "I actually have some sympathy for these large banks, and I think passing debanking legislation at the state level might actually help some of these large banks, because they can go back, and they can say, I'm sorry, Alabama has now passed debanking legislation. We're just following the law, we don't wanna debank people anymore," Sorrell said. "This is un-American, and it has to be stopped." Since the Trump administration took office in January, pushing back against political debanking has become a more prevalent conversation in government, including in the form of a bill from GOP Sen. Tim Scott to address regulatory language that has prompted financial institutions to debank those involved in certain industries. "It's clear that federal regulators have abused reputational risk by carrying out a political agenda against federally legal businesses," Scott said. "This legislation, which eliminates references to reputational risk in regulatory supervision, is the first step once and for all."Original article source: Red state official recounts personal experience of being 'debanked' and why it 'has to be stopped'
Fox News
27-05-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Red state lawmaker recounts personal experience of being 'debanked' and why it 'has to be stopped'
EXCLUSIVE: Protecting Americans from being "debanked" has been a top priority for the State Financial Officers Foundation, and Fox News Digital spoke to a member of that organization, who said he was targeted himself, about the importance of that pursuit. "When I was initially debanked, I didn't realize I was getting debanked," Alabama Republican State Auditor Andrew Sorrell told Fox News Digital at the State Financial Officers Foundation conference in Orlando, Florida. "What happened was I just get a letter one day from our credit card company, from my gun store, Gold Guns and Guitars, and we get this curious letter in the mail, and it says that in 30 days, we're closing your account. And it didn't tell us why at all." Sorrell, 39, explained that at first he thought that his company had simply forgotten to pay their bills, but when he realized he was up-to-date, he switched credit card companies and did not think anything of it until he got another letter from his credit card processor notifying him he was being dropped. "So we're doing about 2 million dollars in revenue, about a million and a half of that is done by credit card or debit card transactions, and I was really confused this time, because why would a credit card processor drop us?" Sorrell explained. After that, Sorrell was told by his insurance company he was being dropped with "no explanation." "I called my insurance broker, and he said, 'Oh yeah, this is happening to all gun stores,'" Sorrell said. "He said insurance companies are dropping all gun stores. And then it hit me. Oh my goodness, I'm a victim of political debanking. I didn't even realize that that's what was happening to me." Debanking is the phenomenon in which a bank customer has their accounts canceled, often with no explanation. Conservatives have long alleged that banks were unfairly targeting them in the practice, with banks specifically going after companies with conservative messaging or principles, including gun stores. In an interview with "Sunday Morning Futures" anchor Maria Bartiromo, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said he had seen "numerous" examples of conservatives being debanked during the Biden administration. "Especially people that were involved in different energy-type businesses and things like that, as well as very well-spoken and outspoken conservative activists," Comer said in the interview. "So there are numerous instances, enough to open an investigation again. Is this [environmental, social and governance (ESG)] policy, which is discriminatory?" Sorrell told Fox News Digital he is "convinced this is happening to other people in Alabama," and that the problem doesn't stem from local community banks but from large national banks who were "pushed" by the Obama and Biden administrations. "I actually have some sympathy for these large banks, and I think passing debanking legislation at the state level might actually help some of these large banks, because they can go back, and they can say, I'm sorry, Alabama has now passed debanking legislation. We're just following the law, we don't wanna debank people anymore," Sorrell said. "This is un-American, and it has to be stopped." Since the Trump administration took office in January, pushing back against political debanking has become a more prevalent conversation in government, including in the form of a bill from GOP Sen. Tim Scott to address regulatory language that has prompted financial institutions to debank those involved in certain industries. "It's clear that federal regulators have abused reputational risk by carrying out a political agenda against federally legal businesses," Scott said. "This legislation, which eliminates references to reputational risk in regulatory supervision, is the first step once and for all."
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Red state treasurer reveals why state financial officers have 'obligation' to combat ESG, DEI
EXCLUSIVE: As Republican state financial officers across the country move to rid the government of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and environmental, social and governance (ESG), Fox News Digital spoke to Utah's state treasurer about the importance of bringing meritocracy and fiduciary responsibility back to markets and investments. "ESG introduces another motive or another motivation to address societal issues through the capital markets or through investment, and when you do that, you violate the fiduciary standards that all of us as financial officers are committed to," Utah State Treasurer Marlo Oaks told Fox News Digital at the State Financial Officers Foundation conference in Orlando, Florida. "And, so, because of that dual mandate, you really have problems when you're managing money for other people. If a single person wants to do it or a family wants to invest their money that way, that's their choice. But when you are managing money for other people, we don't have that choice. We have an obligation to do what's in their financial best interest." Oaks has been at the forefront of the fight against ESG, an investing principle critics say companies and institutions utilize to enact "woke" agendas, authoring several letters on the subject. White House Highlights Over $2B In Savings From Dei Cuts During Trump Administration's First 100 Days "When you talk about managing money for the benefit of other people, which is what a lot of state treasurers do, we have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of the beneficiary," Oaks explained. "So, we have the duty of loyalty and a duty of care. Read On The Fox News App "And it is really focused on the financial outcomes for the beneficiaries. They are depending on this money for their retirement, and, so, it is our financial obligation or fiduciary obligation to act in their best interests." Oaks said firefighters, teachers and police officers who depend on state pensions end up being harmed when states or companies are investing based on factors other than protecting investors. Dei Is Dead. Here's What Should Come Next "ESG introduces another motive or another motivation to address societal issues through the capital markets or through investment, and when you do that, you violate the fiduciary standards that all of us as financial officers are committed to," Oaks said. Oaks and the other Republicans at the SFOF conference have also been vocal opponents of DEI measures and praised President Trump for his efforts to roll back DEI in government. Oaks told Fox News Digital ESG and DEI are closely related and that his opposition to DEI also links back to the desire to do what's best for shareholders in his state. "DEI — diversity, equity, inclusion — that's really the S portion, the social portion of ESG, and, again, it's important because a lot of the push by activist folks in the financial markets is to push an agenda onto corporate America, to have them adopt policies at companies that really are not in the best interest of the companies. And companies have a fiduciary obligation to their shareholders," Oaks said. "When they introduce things like DEI, you change hiring practices, not for merit-based, it moves to other discriminatory hiring practices and ultimately harms companies and their financial output. And, so, that ultimately harms the teachers, the firefighters, the police officers that you're trying to help with their retirement." Oaks was one of two dozen state financial officers who sent a letter in March to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), asset managers, proxy advisors and public companies, sounding the alarm on the financial risk of prioritizing a political agenda, like DEI, over financial returns. Oaks told Fox News Digital that when DEI is introduced at the state financial officer level, "we are potentially introducing financial harm." "And we've seen that with companies like Target, like Bud Light, you know, other companies that have adopted policies that are not in the financial best interest of the shareholders. They have harmed the shareholder value, and that ultimately harms the outcomes that these hardworking public servants and teachers, et cetera, that have worked so hard, retire with the money that they need." Fox News Digital's Deirdre Heavey contributed to this reportOriginal article source: Red state treasurer reveals why state financial officers have 'obligation' to combat ESG, DEI
Fox News
14-05-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Red state treasurer reveals why state financial officers have 'obligation' to combat ESG, DEI
EXCLUSIVE: As Republican state financial officers across the country move to rid the government of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and environmental, social and governance (ESG), Fox News Digital spoke to Utah's state treasurer about the importance of bringing meritocracy and fiduciary responsibility back to markets and investments. "ESG introduces another motive or another motivation to address societal issues through the capital markets or through investment, and when you do that, you violate the fiduciary standards that all of us as financial officers are committed to," Utah State Treasurer Marlo Oaks told Fox News Digital at the State Financial Officers Foundation conference in Orlando, Florida. "And, so, because of that dual mandate, you really have problems when you're managing money for other people. If a single person wants to do it or a family wants to invest their money that way, that's their choice. But when you are managing money for other people, we don't have that choice. We have an obligation to do what's in their financial best interest." Oaks has been at the forefront of the fight against ESG, an investing principle critics say companies and institutions utilize to enact "woke" agendas, authoring several letters on the subject. "When you talk about managing money for the benefit of other people, which is what a lot of state treasurers do, we have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of the beneficiary," Oaks explained. "So, we have the duty of loyalty and a duty of care. "And it is really focused on the financial outcomes for the beneficiaries. They are depending on this money for their retirement, and, so, it is our financial obligation or fiduciary obligation to act in their best interests." Oaks said firefighters, teachers and police officers who depend on state pensions end up being harmed when states or companies are investing based on factors other than protecting investors. "ESG introduces another motive or another motivation to address societal issues through the capital markets or through investment, and when you do that, you violate the fiduciary standards that all of us as financial officers are committed to," Oaks said. Oaks and the other Republicans at the SFOF conference have also been vocal opponents of DEI measures and praised President Trump for his efforts to roll back DEI in government. Oaks told Fox News Digital ESG and DEI are closely related and that his opposition to DEI also links back to the desire to do what's best for shareholders in his state. "DEI — diversity, equity, inclusion — that's really the S portion, the social portion of ESG, and, again, it's important because a lot of the push by activist folks in the financial markets is to push an agenda onto corporate America, to have them adopt policies at companies that really are not in the best interest of the companies. And companies have a fiduciary obligation to their shareholders," Oaks said. "When they introduce things like DEI, you change hiring practices, not for merit-based, it moves to other discriminatory hiring practices and ultimately harms companies and their financial output. And, so, that ultimately harms the teachers, the firefighters, the police officers that you're trying to help with their retirement." Oaks was one of two dozen state financial officers who sent a letter in March to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), asset managers, proxy advisors and public companies, sounding the alarm on the financial risk of prioritizing a political agenda, like DEI, over financial returns. Oaks told Fox News Digital that when DEI is introduced at the state financial officer level, "we are potentially introducing financial harm." "And we've seen that with companies like Target, like Bud Light, you know, other companies that have adopted policies that are not in the financial best interest of the shareholders. They have harmed the shareholder value, and that ultimately harms the outcomes that these hardworking public servants and teachers, et cetera, that have worked so hard, retire with the money that they need."
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'New sheriff in town': State finance leader rallies around key Trump victory saving 'taxpayer dollars'
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways President Donald Trump's executive order ending diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs in the federal government has returned financial power to the people, OJ Oleka, CEO of the State Financial Officers Foundation, told Fox News Digital. Oleka said there's a "new sheriff in town" and that Trump is "making good" on his promise to eliminate DEI by shifting financial policies "away from the left and back to the center," empowering state financial officers and building trust with the American people. "We know that when companies focus on business, their business does better. If their business does better, shareholders make more money, their employees have a better quality of life within their business and their consumers get a better product," Oleka told Fox News Digital at the State Financial Officers Foundation conference in Orlando, Florida. Oleka said focusing on financial returns and merit-based incentives over DEI or environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies creates "more money for shareholders, better culture in the office for employees and better products for consumers and customers," exactly what state financial officers have been asking for. White House Vows To Implement 'System Of Merit' In Us, Dismantle Dei 'Strangulation' Fox News Digital spoke to State Financial Officers Foundation CEO OJ Oleka in Orlando, Fla. "The American people want every individual to succeed," Oleka said. "They want people to succeed on their merit, on their ability, on their skill. It's very important to us as Americans. But what they don't want is for people to get preferences just because of some political ideology." Read On The Fox News App He said there are misconceptions about DEI "because people hear diversity, equity and inclusion, and they think, 'Well, those are good things. I support diversity. I want people to be included, and people should have the resources that they need.' "To be very clear, when we're talking about DEI, we're saying that DEI is trying to provide racial or gender preferences for people based on past grievances. It effectively has nothing to do with merit or looking at somebody's skill for a job or for an opportunity." Major University Medical Center Accused Of Hiding Dei Programs, Influential Senator Calls Them Out Equal opportunity is giving people access to create their own opportunities, to try to be as successful as they can be with their skills, ability and merit, according to Oleka. Oleka explained that DEI is subjective because it prefers "folks based on what you think is important, based on your own politics." "It's bad to say, from a company's perspective, 'Let's just hire people based on race, based on gender,' as opposed to skill and ability," Oleka said. "It's bad because it can harm the performance of what that company actually does with their business responsibilities. That matters to our financial officers because they invest in a lot of these companies. It's their job as fiduciary leaders to make sure that the pensions that they invest, the public funds that they invest by virtue of their positions, are actually done so by companies and with funds where the returns are going to be high. OJ Oleka, CEO of the State Financial Officers Foundation, spoke with Fox News Digital at the State Financial Officers Foundation conference in Orlando, Florida. "We can't guarantee that the returns are going to be as high as they can be if the companies aren't even focusing on their specific mandate, on their responsibility. Instead, they're focusing on their politics and trying to force an ideology or social agenda through their businesses. That's not what business is for." Oleka said his experience as someone with a Ph.D. in higher education who is also the son of Nigerian immigrants informs his rejection of political ideology or agendas in government-funded programs, including in public education, because these policies don't improve students' learning experience or academic performance. "That doesn't actually contribute to kids' learning," Oleka said. "It doesn't contribute to human flourishing. There really is no reason why people's taxpayer dollars should be spent on that." President Donald Trump speaks during an event on energy production in the East Room of the White House April 8, 2025, in Washington. Oleka told Fox News Digital the Orlando conference was critical to reminding state financial officers across the country they are not alone in pushing back against DEI and ESG policies that were promoted by former President Joe Biden's administration. "It goes back to what I think most Americans believe. Their state government is closer to them than the federal government," he said. "As a result, state leaders should have more power, as it relates to their finances, than the federal government, and what a state leader should do with that power is give it back to the people." By empowering state financial officers to focus on financial returns and fiduciary duty instead of ideology and politics, Oleka said more Americans are incentivized financially. "It's important that we have that same kind of leadership in the White House at the state level, making good on their promise to bring a Golden Age to America and to each state," he said. Original article source: 'New sheriff in town': State finance leader rallies around key Trump victory saving 'taxpayer dollars'
