Public commenter urges committee to consider state budget amendment restricting ideological investment decisions

Mark Ashad, a public commenter, told the Cuyahoga County Investment Advisory Committee that an amendment in the state budget prohibits investing authorities'— including county treasurers or their delegates'from making investment decisions "with the primary purpose of influencing environmental, social, personal, or ideological policy unless expressly authorized by Ohio law."

Ashad said the amendment also would bar the state Board of Deposit from ordering the treasurer of state to sell or liquidate investments for that same purpose unless state law expressly authorized such action. He urged the committee to be aware of that change when the county updates its own investment policy and considers how it treats investments that some stakeholders view as politically motivated.

Why it matters: If enacted and enforced as summarized by the commenter, the amendment could constrain local governments'or their outsourced managers'from factoring environmental, social or ideological objectives into investment choices unless state law provides explicit permission. Ashad said that some recent pressure to divest or avoid reinvesting in particular issuers had been politically motivated; he also defended the financial performance of the securities he referenced.

Public comment and specifics Ashad identified himself for the record and said he wanted to raise the amendment's provisions because "there's been a concerted effort to direct county investment policy not based on financial considerations but rather political ones." He asked the committee to consider how existing or future investment policy would interact with the state-level change as bond maturities arise.

What the transcript records The transcript records Ashad summarizing language in an amendment to the state budget and urging committee awareness; it does not include a legislative citation or the amendment's formal bill number, and the commenter did not provide text beyond the summary. The committee accepted the comment and proceeded with agenda business.

Ending Committee members did not take formal action on the public comment during the meeting; staff and the committee continue to review and plan revisions to the county investment policy on a statutory and administrative timetable.