The House approved legislation Wednesday that would limit “woke” investing of retirement funds.
The House voted 217-206 for H.R. 5339, the “Protecting Americans’ Investments from Woke Policies Act.” The Education and the Workforce Committee package would curb the use of environment, social and governance (ESG) principles by those who manage employer-sponsored retirement funds.
Three Democrats crossed the aisle to vote with Republicans for the bill. They included Reps. Jared Golden of Maine, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington and Mary Peltola of Alaska.
The legislation would require people in charge of retirement funds to make investment decisions solely based on factors that have to do with financial performance. The bill would limit managers’ ability to consider nonfinancial information, such as board demographics or environmental impacts.