An Act Promoting Responsible Investment (H.1264/S.767)
An Act Promoting Responsible Investment would require the Massachusetts administration to divest public pension funds - taxpayer money - from all entities involved in activities that manufacture, produce, sell, or promote weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
Massachusetts currently invests approximately $2.1 BILLION of state pension holdings in entities involved with weapons of mass destruction - including investments in RTX Corporations (Raytheon), Northrop Grumman Corp, Lockheed Martin Corp, Boeing, and more.We want Massachusetts to move money away from unethical systems and reinvest in sustainable, socially-responsible alternatives!We urge our legislators to pass An Act Promoting Responsible Investment. This bill would require the Massachusetts administration to divest public pension funds - taxpayer money - from all entities involved in manufacturing, producing, selling, or promoting weapons of mass destruction.Divestment from weapons of mass destruction means removing invested assets from companies involved in manufacturing, producing, selling, and/or promoting WMD - or facilitating any of these activities.
The bill is sponsored by Representatives Samantha Montaño (15th Suffolk) and Lindsay N. Sabadosa (1st Hampshire), and Senator Patricia D. Jehlen (Middlesex).Massachusetts House Representatives co-sponsoring this bill are Christine P. Barber (34th Middlesex), Natalie M. Higgins (4th Worcester), Erika Uyterhoeven (27th Middlesex), Mike Connolly (26th Middlesex), Carmine Lawrence Gentile (13th Middlesex), Sean Garballey (23rd Middlesex), John Francis Moran (9th Suffolk), Marjorie C. Decker (23rd Middlesex), David Henry Argosky LeBoeuf (17th Worcester), and James C. Arena-DeRosa (8th Middlesex).Senators co-sponsoring this bill are also Sal D. Domenico (Middlesex and Suffolk), and James B. Eldridge (Middlesex and Worcester).
About the Coalition for Responsible Investment
We are a statewide coalition of constituents and community-based organizations focused on ethical and responsible state pension investments. Please email us at [email protected] with thoughts, questions, or ways to get involved not listed above.The Coalition for Responsible Investment Includes: Massachusetts Peace Action | Nuclear Ban, US | Weapons to Windmills Coalition | 350 Mass | Traprock Center for Peace and Justice | Center for Nonviolent Solutions | NuclearBan.US | Climate Action Now | Mass Interfaith Power and Light | New England Peace Pagoda | Better Future Project | Nuclear Free Future Coalition | First Churches Peace & Justice Northampton | Western Mass CodePink | Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice and the Environment | Haydenville Congregational Church, Peace and Justice Steering Committee | Northshore for Palestine | Citizen’s Climate Lobby Hilltowns Mass Chapter | Pax Christi MA | Northampton Friends Meeting | Springfield Climate Justice Coalition | Progressive Democrats of America, MA | Newton Dialogues on Peace and War | Demilitarize Western Mass | Veterans for Peace, Smedley D. Butler Brigade | Framingham Friends Meeting | Cape Downwinders | Citizens Awareness Network | Jewish Voices for Peace Boston | Jamaica Plain for Palestine | Somerville for Palestine | Medford for Palestine | Quincy for Palestine | Allston-Brighton for Palestine | Massachusetts Teachers Association | Liberation Health Group Boston | Progressive Mass | Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility | CIR-SEIU
CFRI logo by Laura Mishkin (@lauramishkin on Instagram)