HB 241: "An Act relating to certain investments of the Alaska permanent fund, the state's retirement systems, the State of Alaska Supplemental Annuity Plan, and the deferred compensation program for state employees in companies that do business in Iran, and restricting those investments; and providing for an effective date."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 241 01 "An Act relating to certain investments of the Alaska permanent fund, the state's 02 retirement systems, the State of Alaska Supplemental Annuity Plan, and the deferred 03 compensation program for state employees in companies that do business in Iran, and 04 restricting those investments; and providing for an effective date." 05 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06 * Section 1. AS 37.10 is amended by adding new sections to read: 07 Sec. 37.10.072. Iran divestment. (a) The commissioner or a fiduciary of a 08 fund subject to this title may not invest in and shall cause the fund to divest ownership, 09 if any, in the publicly traded securities of a company that the commissioner places on 10 a list of companies that conduct or have direct investments in business operations in 11 Iran. Divestment of an ownership interest in a company shall occur within 90 days 12 after it is placed on the list created and updated under (c) of this section if the 13 investment is managed by the commissioner or fiduciary. On or before January 31 of 14 each year, if a fund has investments managed by an outside investment manager, the
01 fiduciary shall direct the investment manager not to invest in and to divest, within 90 02 days after receiving the direction, ownership, if any, in the publicly traded securities of 03 a company that the commissioner places on a list of companies that conduct or have 04 direct investments in business operations in Iran. 05 (b) If an investment in a fund under (a) of this section is managed as a 06 commingled investment or other business structure in which the fund is not the sole 07 owner of the investment interest or if the investment is an index fund, the provisions 08 of (a) of this section do not apply. The commissioner shall require that, on or before 09 January 31 of each year, the fiduciary submit letters to the managers of commingled 10 investments requesting the managers to consider removing from the commingled 11 investment any company on the list of companies that conduct or have direct 12 investments in business operations in Iran. 13 (c) The commissioner shall create and update annually on or before 14 December 31 a list of companies that conduct or have direct investments in business 15 operations in Iran. 16 (d) The commissioner shall make reasonable efforts to investigate all publicly 17 traded companies to determine whether the company conducts or has direct 18 investments in business operations in Iran. In conducting the investigation, the 19 commissioner may use the following: 20 (1) credible publicly available information regarding companies with 21 active business operations compiled by nonprofit organizations, research firms, 22 international organizations, and government entities; 23 (2) information supplied by institutional investors that have divested 24 from companies that conduct or have direct investments in business operations in Iran. 25 (e) The commissioner shall provide written notice and an opportunity to 26 comment in writing to each company identified as a company that conducts or has 27 direct investments in business operations in Iran under (d) of this section. 28 (f) The commissioner shall add a company identified under (d) of this section 29 to the list of companies that conduct or have direct investments in business operations 30 in Iran not earlier than 90 days after providing written notice under (e) of this section, 31 unless the company demonstrates to the commissioner that it does not conduct or have
01 direct investments in business operations in Iran. 02 (g) The commissioner shall make every effort to avoid erroneously adding a 03 company to the list of companies that conduct or have direct investments in business 04 operations in Iran. The commissioner shall verify that the company conducts or has 05 direct investments in business operations in Iran before adding it to the list of 06 companies that conduct or have direct investments in business operations in Iran. 07 (h) Annually, on or before January 31, the commissioner shall advise the 08 president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, and, if the position 09 has been established, the United States presidential special envoy for Iran, of the 10 companies on the list of companies that conduct or have direct investments in business 11 operations in Iran. 12 (i) If the federal government excludes a company from its present or any 13 future federal sanctions relating to Iran, the company is exempt from the divestment 14 requirements and the investment prohibitions in this section. 15 (j) The commissioner may adopt regulations under AS 44.62 to carry out the 16 purposes of the section. 17 (k) In this section, 18 (1) "business operations" 19 (A) means all business operations that are not inactive business 20 operations; 21 (B) does not include operations that the company can 22 demonstrate 23 (i) are conducted under a license from the United States 24 Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control, or are 25 expressly exempted from licensure under federal law; 26 (ii) consist of providing goods or services to the 27 population of Iran; 28 (iii) consist of providing goods or services to an 29 internationally recognized peacekeeping force or humanitarian 30 organization; 31 (iv) consist of providing goods or services that are used
01 only to promote health or education; or 02 (v) have been voluntarily suspended; 03 (2) "commissioner" means the commissioner of revenue; 04 (3) "Government of Iran" means the government of the Islamic 05 Republic of Iran or its instrumentalities or political subdivisions and companies owned 06 or controlled by the Islamic Republic of Iran; 07 (4) "inactive business operations" means the continued holding or 08 renewal of rights to property previously operated for the purpose of generating 09 revenue but not presently deployed for that purpose. 10 Sec. 37.10.073. Divestment exemptions and immunity. For actions taken, or 11 inaction done in good faith, in compliance with AS 37.10.072, the commissioner of 12 revenue, a fiduciary, an agent, attorney, trustee, officer, employee, staff, custodian, 13 research firm, or investment manager under contract of the commissioner of revenue 14 or the fiduciary, and board members complying with AS 37.10.220 or AS 37.13.120 15 are 16 (1) exempt from a conflicting state statutory or common law 17 obligation, including an obligation with respect to choice of an asset manager, 18 investment fund, or investment for the securities portfolio of the public fund; and 19 (2) immune from liability under state or local law. 20 * Sec. 2. AS 37.10.220 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 21 (d) The board shall comply with AS 37.10.072. 22 * Sec. 3. AS 37.13.120 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 23 (f) The board shall comply with AS 37.10.072. 24 * Sec. 4. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 25 read: 26 REPEAL. Section 1 of this Act; AS 37.10.072, 37.10.220(d); and AS 37.13.120(f) are 27 repealed on the earliest of the day after 28 (1) Iran is removed from the United States Department of State's list of 29 countries that have been determined to repeatedly provide support for acts of international 30 terrorism; or 31 (2) the United States Congress or the President of the United States, through
01 legislation or executive order, declares that the Iran divestment authorized in AS 37.10.072 02 interferes with the conduct of United States foreign policy. 03 * Sec. 5. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 04 read: 05 REPORT. (a) Within 30 days after creating the list described in AS 37.10.072(c), the 06 commissioner of revenue shall submit the list to the legislature. 07 (b) Not later than January 31 of each year, the commissioner of revenue shall submit a 08 report to the legislature that must include 09 (1) a copy of the most recent list created under AS 37.10.072(c); 10 (2) a summary of correspondence with companies on the list described in 11 AS 37.10.072(c); 12 (3) a list of all investments sold, redeemed, divested, or withdrawn in 13 compliance with AS 37.10.072(a); and 14 (4) a summary of correspondence with managers of commingled investments 15 described in AS 37.10.072(b). 16 * Sec. 6. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 17 read: 18 NOTICE. Not later than 30 days after the enactment of this Act, the Department of 19 Law is directed to submit written notice to the Attorney General of the United States 20 describing this Act. 21 * Sec. 7. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).