Senate Committee Sends Message to Boycotters of Israel
October 6th, 2015 by Mike Vasilinda
Saying they wanted to make a political statement without compromising the states retirement account, a state senate committee today approved legislation prohibiting the state from buying stock in a company that boycotts Israel. State Senator Joe Negron, the bills sponsor, says the legislation hopes to combat an international effort to hurt Israel’s economy.
“The bill provides that we will not purchase stock from your company going forward and we will not enter into contracts in excess of a million dollars with your company. So I think it sends a strong message that everyone’s entitled to their opinion, but if you are going to use the economy to try and discriminate against Israel, Florida is going to stand with Israel” says Negron.
Florida was one of the first states in the 1990’s to stop investing in the country of South Africa. The new legislation says the retirement system will have a year to divest itself of stock in companies that appear on a “Scrutinized Companies” list.
Posted in Business, Civil Rights, Ethics, Legislature | 
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