State Legislative Developments: Oklahoma And West Virginia

On March 21, 2023 the Oklahoma House of Representatives passed House Bill 2547, which claims to be "designed to continue protections of state pension funds from strategies that would be harmful to the state's energy industry." The bill was introduced by Rep. Terry O'Donnell (R-Catoosa). On March 28, 2023, the Governor of West Virginia, James Justice, signed into law House Bill 2862, which prohibits state investment boards within West Virginia from casting their proxy votes "for the purpose of furthering non-pecuniary interests."

Oklahoma House Bill 2547 follows on from legislation co-authored by O'Donnell in 2021 and signed by the Governor in May 2022 that is similar to legislation passed or proposed elsewhere requiring state treasurers to maintain lists of financial institutions that "boycott energy companies," and to divest assets from such investment managers that "continue to boycott energy companies" after notice from the Treasurer and an opportunity to