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Unlocking America’s Future Weekly Wrap-Up: New Ad Campaigns in Michigan, Pennsylvania Exposing Greedy Anti-ESG Politicians, Texas Lawmaker Suggests Jailing Investment Agents

October 18, 2024

This week in responsible investing, Unlocking America’s Future (UAF) announced new six-figure digital ad campaigns in Michigan and Pennsylvania and accompanying research to educate taxpayers about state lawmakers who are siding with out-of-state billionaires and supporting anti-ESG bills. UAF also launched new ads as part of its Project 2025 campaign to expose that the greedy corporations behind ESG bans are the same forces at play in the extremist policy blueprint.

At a Texas Senate committee hearing on anti-ESG law SB13, a lawmaker suggested jailing investment agents who engage in responsible investing. That and more below:

UAF announced a new digital ad campaign in Michigan to hold state Reps. Donni Steele (MI-54), Kathy Schmaltz (MI-46), and Mark Tisdel (MI-55) accountable for supporting anti-ESG bills HB4381 and HB4344. 

From UAF’s release: Extreme lawmakers in the Michigan legislature – including Representatives Steele, Schmaltz, and Tisdel – have made it clear they are willing to prioritize special interests in the oil and gas industry over the economic security of their constituents.They continue to double down on anti-ESG attacks despite the overwhelming research which shows that similar legislation in other states ends up costing states’ economies hundreds of millions of dollars.

UAF also announced a new digital ad campaign in Pennsylvania to hold state Rep. Milou Mackenzie (PA-131) accountable for co-sponsoring anti-ESB bill HB334. 

From UAF’s release: The campaign includes a six-figure digital buy and new research that exposes how Rep. Mackenzie, and other supporters of the bill, have sided with out-of-state billionaires and right-wing extremist groups instead of the constituents they claim to represent. The new report reveals how the legislation would restrict financial service providers from using responsible investing criteria and could compel financial institutions to provide services to extremist groups, including those that promote discrimination. 

UAF launched new ads as part of its Project 2025 campaign targeting voters in Georgia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, who, according to recent polling, are more likely to oppose ESG bans when they learn about the ties to Project 2025.

From UAF’s release: American voters deserve to know that greedy corporations and their extremist henchmen are behind Project 2025 and only care about lining their own pockets no matter the cost to taxpayers and retirees. This new ad makes clear that the shadow authors of Project 2025 are not concerned with helping Americans protect their financial security and instead are prioritizing an assault on people’s rights and freedoms at the expense of our economy and environment.

A Texas Senate interim committee held a hearing on the state’s harmful anti-ESG law SB-13, where state agency officials and lawmakers skirted accountability.  

From UAF’s pre-hearing release: Far-right Texas lawmakers are forcing their constituents to pay a costly premium just to score political points with their Big Oil donors on an issue that even the most conservative voters don’t support. Texas’s law blacklisting even high-performing, cost-effective firms from doing business with the state doesn’t just kill jobs and hurt the economy—it risks the retirement security of dedicated public servants. Texas lawmakers have an opportunity to address the real-world harms of their extreme agenda. At the hearing we’ll learn whether they’re willing to seize it.

From UAF’s post-hearing release: Texans are paying the cost of these harmful laws. The extremists, who are wasting tax dollars in a losing fight against responsible investing, have sunk to a new low. Threatening to jail investment professionals because their expert advice doesn’t match your extremist politics isn’t just wrong, it’s un-Texan and un-American.

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