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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2021 - 2022
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | February 25, 2022 03:30 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Sharif Street |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Divesting Pennsylvania from Russia |
| In the near future, I intend to introduce legislation that requires public funds, defined as the Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS), the State Employees Retirement System (SERS), the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System (PMRS), and the State Treasurer, to divest investments in companies doing business with the Russian Federation. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggressive and illegal invasion of Ukraine demands action. In 1982, my father, Philadelphia Councilman John F. Street, introduced legislation making the City of Philadelphia the first major American city to divest from South Africa over its racist and oppressive apartheid system. As we know from history, divestment in South Africa had an outsized impact on changing the trajectory of that nation. Russia’s belligerent and unchecked assault on the free nation of Ukraine deserves a similar response. Pennsylvania should not invest in or support companies that do business with the Russian Federation as long as President Putin continues down his path of destruction. We must wield our economic power to ensure that Russia faces grave consequences for their flagrant violations of international law and human cooperation. Please join me in co-sponsoring this important legislation. If you have any questions, please reach out to my Policy Director, Micah Mahjoubian, at micah@pasenate.com. |
Introduced as SB1184