Bill Text: TX HCR38 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Urging the United States Congress to investigate the anti-fiduciary practices of BlackRock CEO Larry Fink.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-02 - Referred to State Affairs [HCR38 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HCR38-Introduced.html
88R10397 BPG-D | ||
By: Oliverson | H.C.R. No. 38 |
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WHEREAS, Larry Fink, chief executive officer of investment | ||
behemoth BlackRock, has become a suspiciously strident proponent of | ||
Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance initiatives; and | ||
WHEREAS, Under Mr. Fink's leadership, BlackRock has moved to | ||
the vanguard of the ESG movement, investing on the basis of social | ||
and environmental factors rather than pure fiduciary interests; and | ||
WHEREAS, Mr. Fink has used BlackRock's financial might to | ||
coerce companies to follow his liberal political agenda; touting | ||
the doctrine of "stakeholder capitalism," he has warned companies | ||
in which BlackRock invests that they must adopt ESG standards or | ||
face pressure in proxy battles; for instance, BlackRock has used | ||
the proxy votes of its clients to push its global warming agenda and | ||
bolster renewable energy, often in conflict with its fiduciary | ||
responsibilities; and | ||
WHEREAS, While BlackRock demands unreasonable environmental | ||
and social standards of U.S. companies, imposing enormous | ||
extra-regulatory costs, it fails to require similar ESG adherence | ||
by the Chinese companies in which it invests; the business sector in | ||
Communist China has a deplorable record with respect to | ||
environmental stewardship, justice, and accountable governance, | ||
with a severe lack of the basic auditing safeguards required in the | ||
U.S.; notably, BlackRock became an investor in two Chinese | ||
companies, Hikvision and iFlytek, that the United States government | ||
has blacklisted for human rights abuses against Uyghurs in | ||
Xinjiang; BlackRock actually increased its holding in Hikvision | ||
after the blacklisting; and | ||
WHEREAS, BlackRock manages an estimated $10 trillion in | ||
assets, a number larger than many first-world economies; billions | ||
of those dollars come from U.S. pension funds, which play a vital | ||
role in the financial security of the middle class and in the | ||
stability of the U.S. economy; by prioritizing left-wing political | ||
initiatives over shareholder returns, BlackRock is potentially | ||
weakening those funds and sabotaging the American companies in | ||
which it invests; now, therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the 88th Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to investigate | ||
the anti-fiduciary practices of BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, the | ||
intent behind those practices, and their impact on American | ||
companies and the U.S. economy; and, be it further | ||
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official | ||
copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to | ||
the speaker of the House of Representatives and the president of the | ||
Senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of the | ||
Texas delegation to Congress with the request that this resolution | ||
be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to | ||
the Congress of the United States of America. |