Senate Banks Committee advances bill requiring climate-related financial risk reports despite concerns about business flight

The Senate Banks Committee on Monday advanced Senate Bill 5132, a measure that would require certain corporations to prepare annual climate-related financial risk reports for submission to the Secretary of State and to make those reports public.

Sponsor materials read into the record described the proposal as a transparency measure intended to surface climate-related financial risks that could affect consumers and markets. ‘‘We have to have a New York State for them to stay in,’’ said Sen. James Sanders Jr., the committee chair, urging a regulatory environment that keeps financial activity and oversight in the state.

Ranking member Sen. George Burrell, of the 57th Senate District, said he opposed the bill. ‘‘We’ve already seen an exodus of our financial services companies out in New York State,’’ Burrell said, arguing that additional reporting mandates could be ‘‘another nail in that coffin’’ and an unreasonable burden on firms with operations moving to other states.

Committee members debated the tradeoff between disclosure for investor and consumer protection and the risk of imposing costs that could influence firms’ location decisions. After brief discussion the bill was moved, seconded and reported out of committee to the next referral (consumer affairs).

The measure, as described at the committee, would amend the financial services law to require covered corporations to annually prepare and publish a climate-related financial risk report; further implementation details and agency guidance were not specified during the meeting. The committee did not record a detailed roll-call vote in the transcript; the chair announced the bill was reported out of committee.

Next steps: the bill was advanced to consumer affairs for further consideration.