Committee passes bill to move Invest in Oklahoma to treasurer and allow up to 5% state investments in local companies

Chairwoman Thompson explained that Senate Bill 1090 transfers the Invest in Oklahoma program to the state treasurer and would permit the treasurer to allocate up to 5% of the maximum amount of funds under the treasurer's control to Invest in Oklahoma investments.

"My goal in this is giving more opportunity and more clarity to the treasurer to invest directly in Oklahoma companies," Thompson said. She described the change as a measured expansion of the treasurer's investment portfolio and said the program has seen little use so far. "No one has really used it yet. That's one reason why we are hoping to open it up to a new, just kind of expand our portfolio," Thompson said. The bill also requires quarterly reports and leaves the treasurer flexibility to retain investment advisers.

Several senators pressed the sponsor on oversight, conflict-of-interest safeguards and the scale of potential investments. Senator Kurt said his back-of-the-envelope math suggested the treasurer holds roughly $18 billion and that 5% could approach $900 million; Kurt said he wanted stronger protections for taxpayer money and cited past problems with another state investment board. "We're not talking about just a little 5%. We're talking about up, close to a billion dollars," Kurt said and stated he would vote no today. Other senators said the authority is permissive rather than mandatory and that statutory conflict-of-interest laws remain in effect. The committee voted 7 ayes and 1 nay; the chair declared Senate Bill 1090 passed in committee.