[Kansas City infoZine] Joshua Brockman - Missouri State Treasurer Sarah Steelman engineered the first public fund to become "terror-free" in the U.S. The international fund filters out companies with ties to four countries - Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria - on the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism. In December 2006, she helped to make Missouri the first state to approve a plan to offer a "terror-free" 529 college-savings program. A growing number of legislatures have responded to the call for anti-terrorism investment policies. Legislation was introduced this year in nine states to prohibit state funds from being invested in companies doing business in Iran. Vermont has a targeted divestment policy for the state's pension funds that restricts investments in companies linked with Sudan, Iran and Syria. But so far it has enforced the policy only on Sudan, using a model developed by the Sudan Divestment Task Force. State Treasurer Jeb Spaulding said he is now searching for screening models to follow for the other countries.
2007-04-16 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive