2024 Anti-ESG Statehouse Report
In 2024, Republican lawmakers continued their project to weaponize state finances and regulatory powers against responsible investing through the consideration of 161 bills and resolutions in 28 states. While sessions saw a high volume of bills introduced, steady diverse opposition — alongside the costly and litigious implementation of earlier laws — led to fewer total bills passed into law this year.
These legislative efforts built on a multi-year trend in which lawmakers have introduced 373 pieces of legislation in 39 states to prohibit pension boards, state and municipal governments, and the private sector from considering risk factors in their investment decisions, such as climate change and how a company treats its workers. These “anti-ESG” bills (short for “environmental, social and governance”) seek to manipulate the market toward risky industries, such as firearms manufacturing and fossil fuels, which are reliable Republican donors.
With the majority of legislative sessions closed for the year, Pleiades has tracked a significant decline in laws passed compared to the 2023 legislative session, in which 23 bills became law. Of the 161 bills and resolutions active this year, including 58 that carried over from the 2023 legislative session, only six laws in as many states have passed in 2024. Two of these new laws were bills introduced in 2023.
2024 Bills and Resolutions in Review:
To date, Pleiades has tracked a total of 373 pieces of legislation in 39 states since 2021, including 42 laws in 19 states, and 10 finalized resolutions.
In 2024 alone:
103 new bills and resolutions introduced. Of the 95 bills and 8 resolutions introduced this year, only 4 bills and 2 resolutions were approved by legislatures.
58 bills that carried over from 2023, two of which have passed into law in 2024.
This is a significant drop from 2023, when 23 laws were passed and 6 resolutions resolved by year’s end, out of 198 total pieces of legislation.
To date, no laws have passed in Alaska, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wisconsin, all of which have considered multiple kinds of bills since 2021.
No additional laws passed this year in Alabama, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, New Hampshire, or West Virginia, out of 55 total legislative proposals.
None of the 6 bills in Michigan, New York, or Pennsylvania have had a single committee hearing since being introduced in 2023.
Business groups, labor unions, environmental advocates, and some Republican legislators all oppose so-called “anti-ESG bills.”
Despite business groups’ significant opposition, a new model bill limiting financial institutions’ ability to evaluate certain types of risk passed in Florida and Tennessee (see below). Similar proposals targeting private sector behavior failed in 12 other states.
Only two bills related to public pension funds passed this legislative session, one of which was a watered-down version of the model bill it was based upon. These laws have been widely opposed by labor unions and pension fund managers.
Lawmakers doubled down on their attempts to curb corporate efforts to address racial injustice, targeting “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DEI) programs in concert with anti-ESG efforts.