Governor Gianforte Blasts President Biden for Putting Politically Motivated ESG Ahead of Maximizing Americans’ Retirement Savings

• March 20 2023

HELENA, Mont. – Governor Greg Gianforte today blasted President Joe Biden for undermining the retirement savings of hardworking Americans in favor of politically-motivated Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing.

Earlier today, the president vetoed a bipartisan measure to block a U.S. Department of Labor mandate that promotes the ESG agenda. The bipartisan bill is designed to prioritize and maximize Americans’ returns on investment for their retirement savings.

“Montanans work hard to earn a living and retire comfortably, and it’s a shame to see President Biden undermine their retirement savings to appease activist, woke special interests,” Gov. Gianforte said. “On my watch, Montana will never undermine taxpayers’ returns on investment to advance a political agenda through ESG investing.”

Last week, Governor Gianforte joined 18 governors to oppose President Biden’s efforts to put the retirement savings of hardworking Americans at risk to ESG investing.

The use of ESG prioritizes environmental, social, and governance investment principles over traditional investment principles designed to maximize shareholder returns.

In January, Gov. Gianforte reaffirmed the State of Montana’s commitment to maximizing returns on the over $26 billion in investments of the state’s financial assets, not advancing a political agenda through ESG policies.

Late last year, the Board of Investments revoked the ability of the state’s investment managers to vote the state’s proxies to align with ESG investment decisions.

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