Arizona State Treasurer Kimberly Yee put investment firm Morningstar on notice and stated that it violated the state’s anti-BDS law.

The Jewish Insider | Morningstar ESG rating system violates Arizona anti-BDS law, treasurer says

“As Treasurer, it is my duty to ensure that Arizona does not do business with companies that are attempting to undermine Israel’s economy and violate Arizona’s anti-BDS law,” said Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee. “Morningstar’s ESG rating subsidiary, Sustainalytics, appears to violate Arizona law by negatively impacting ratings of companies doing business in Israel. I continue to strongly oppose the use of woke ESG ratings in order to keep politics out of Arizonan’s livelihoods and retirement accounts.”

In Treasurer Yee’s letter to Kunal Kapoor, CEO of Morningstar Inc., she informed Kapoor that the company had 30 days within receipt of her letter sent on August 18, 2022, to provide written certification explaining how Morningstar’s usage of ESG ratings does not violate Arizona’s anti-BDS law. Further, Treasurer Yee required that Morningstar must provide a written averment that they will not engage in any future boycott activities against Israel.

“As Arizona’s Chief Banking and Investment Officer, I stand with Israel, and I will not allow taxpayer dollars to become victim to the woke political gamesmanship of ESG ratings. ESG ratings are a political scorecard, not a financial scorecard,” said Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee. “I will not allow companies to promote policies that are antisemitic and discriminatory efforts against Israel, which is America's longtime friend and ally, and a significant trade partner with Arizona.”

Treasurer Kimberly and Arizona's state government have stood in support of Israel's sovereignty and thwarted efforts of American companies working to boycott Israel.

Last year in September 2021, Treasurer Yee withdrew $143 million of Arizona's public funds from Unilever, the parent company of Ben and Jerry's over the ice cream firm’s decision to cease sales in Judea and Samaria also known as the West Bank, and east Jerusalem.

A published report stated — "Arizona will not do business with companies that are attempting to undermine Israel’s economy and blatantly disregarding Arizona’s law," said Treasurer Kimberly Yee.

Further reading:

—Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee and 17 Other State Financial Officers Sign a Letter Urging Morningstar Inc. to Terminate all Research and ESG Rating Products that have an Anti-Israel Bias

—Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee Notifies Morningstar Inc. that their ESG Rating System Violates Arizona’s Anti-BDS Law

—Jewish News Syndicate | Arizona treasurer says investment firm Morningstar violates state anti-BDS law

Bio | Kimberly Yee

Kimberly Yee is the State Treasurer of Arizona. She is Arizona's chief banking and investment officer and oversees the cash management of Arizona's $53 billion state budget and payments to agencies, local governments and schools. Upon taking office in January 2019, assets under management were at $15.4 billion. Today, assets under management stand at over $30.2 billion, an increase of 96 percent in 42 months.

The Arizona Permanent Land Endowment Trust Fund has also hit historic record highs increasing by $1.9 billion in value under Treasurer Yee's administration as of June 30, 2022. Voluntary deposits into the Local Government Investment Pool have also increased by 75.4 percent under Treasurer Yee's leadership, reaching a balance of $5.54 billion in total assets as of June 30, 2022. Treasurer Yee led the effort to pass a state law requiring students to have financial education in high school before graduation, and was the first State Treasurer to have visited all 15 counties in Arizona during the first year of her administration.

Treasurer Yee is the Chairman of the Arizona Board of Investment and State Loan Commission and is a member of the State Land Selection Board. She also serves as Chairman of the Financial Literacy Task Force, Arizona's first-ever statewide body dedicated to advancing personal money management and financial awareness for students, senior citizens, military families and vulnerable populations.

Kimberly served as Senate Majority Leader and became the second woman elected to this position in Arizona’s history, following U.S. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor who served the position in 1973, forty-four years earlier.

https://ileaderssummit.org/services/americas-roundtable-radio/
https://ileaderssummit.org/ | https://jerusalemleaderssummit.com/

America's Roundtable on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/americas-roundtable/id1518878472

Twitter:
@KimberlyYeeAZ
@ileaderssummit
@NatashaSrdoc
@JoelAnandUSA
@supertalk

America's Roundtable is co-hosted by Natasha Srdoc and Joel Anand Samy, co-founders of International Leaders Summit and the Jerusalem Leaders Summit.

America’s Roundtable from Washington D.C. informs, educates, empowers and challenges the listening audience about the importance to restore, strengthen, and protect our freedoms, the rule of law, and free markets. America’s Roundtable advances the ideas of freedom, the significance of freedom of speech, limited government, and the application of free market principles to solve problems.

America’s Roundtable presents in-depth analysis of current events and public policy issues while applying America’s founding principles.

America’s Roundtable radio program - a strategic initiative of International Leaders Summit, focuses on America’s economy, healthcare reform, rule of law, security and trade, and its strategic partnership with rule of law nations around the world. The radio program features high-ranking US administration officials, cabinet members, members of Congress, state government officials, distinguished diplomats, business and media leaders and influential thinkers from around the world.

America’s Roundtable is aired by Lanser Broadcasting Corporation on 96.5 FM and 98.9 FM, covering Michigan’s major market and the upper Midwest, SuperTalk Mississippi Media’s 12 radio stations and 50 affiliates reaching every county in Mississippi and also heard in parts of the neighboring states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee, and through podcast on Apple Podcasts and other key online platforms.

Treasurer Kimberly Yee provides the latest update on Ben & Jerry’s and the actions taken by its parent company Unilever.

"As Arizona Treasurer, I've divested all state funds from Ben & Jerry's for boycotting Israel," Yee tweeted. "Israel is and will continue to be a major trade partner of AZ. #IStandWithIsrael and I will not allow taxpayer dollars to go towards anti-Semitic, discriminatory efforts against Israel."

The discussion with Arizona State Treasurer Kimberly Yee also focuses on America's inflation surge and the solutions presented to address the nation's energy crisis and the national security at the southern border. Arizona spans more than 370 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection is on pace to make more than 2 million arrests along the Mexico border during the 2022 fiscal year.

On the energy front, Kimberly Yee has been a leading voice to hold to account the U.S. banking industry and the world’s largest asset managers when it comes to efforts to boycott energy companies. In November 2021, Treasurer Yee joined a coalition of 15 Republican Treasurers, Auditors, and Comptrollers of states representing over $600 billion in public assets with a warning that it could potentially reduce future business with banks that cut off financing for oil, gas, and coal.

The letter reads:

"We have a compelling government interest, when acting as participants in the financial services market on behalf of our respective states, to select financial institutions that are not engaged in tactics to harm the very people whose money they are handling. Further, we have the responsibility, as fiduciaries and stewards of more than $600 billion, to ensure that our financial service providers are free from harmful conflicts of interest that could jeopardize state funds. Any financial institution that has adopted policies aimed at diminishing a large portion of our states’ revenue has a major conflict of interest against holding, maintaining, or managing those funds."

11-23-2021 Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee Takes Action to Combat Biden Administration Efforts to De-Bank Reliable Energy Firms

11-22-2021 Letter from U.S. State Treasurers to the United States Banks to end boycott of reliable energy companies

Bio | Kimberly Yee

Kimberly Yee is the State Treasurer of Arizona. She is Arizona's chief banking and investment officer and oversees the cash management of Arizona's $53 billion state budget and payments to agencies, local governments and schools. Upon taking office in January 2019, assets under management were at $15.4 billion. Today, assets under management stand at over $29.9 billion, an increase of 94 percent in 41 months.

The Arizona Permanent Land Endowment Trust Fund has also hit historic record highs increasing by $1.9 billion in value under Treasurer Yee's administration as of May 31, ,2022. Voluntary deposits into the Local Government Investment Pool have also increased by 74 percent under Treasurer Yee's leadership, reaching a record high balance of $5.87 billion in total assets as of May 31, 2022.

Treasurer Yee led the effort to pass a state law requiring students to have financial education in high school before graduation, and was the first State Treasurer to have visited all 15 counties in Arizona during the first year of her administration.

Treasurer Yee is the Chairman of the Arizona Board of Investment and State Loan Commission and is a member of the State Land Selection Board. She also serves as Chairman of the Financial Literacy Task Force, Arizona's first-ever statewide body dedicated to advancing personal money management and financial awareness for students, senior citizens, military families and vulnerable populations.

Treasurer Yee is the Administrator of the AZ529 Education Savings Plan. Since the Fall of 2020, Kimberly has grown assets to nearly $1.8 billion with more than 20,000 new accounts opened to help families save for higher education and workforce development.

Born and raised in Arizona, Treasurer Kimberly Yee is the first Asian American elected to a statewide office in Arizona’s history. She is also the first Chinese American Republican woman to win a major statewide office in the history of the United States. In 2010, she became the first Asian American woman elected to the Arizona Legislature and served for eight years, both in the House and the Senate.

Kimberly served as Senate Majority Leader and became the second woman elected to this position in Arizona’s history, following U.S. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor who served the position in 1973, forty-four years earlier.

https://ileaderssummit.org/services/americas-roundtable-radio/
https://ileaderssummit.org/ | https://jerusalemleaderssummit.com/

America's Roundtable on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/americas-roundtable/id1518878472

Twitter:
@KimberlyYeeAZ
@ileaderssummit
@NatashaSrdoc
@JoelAnandUSA
@supertalk

America's Roundtable is co-hosted by Natasha Srdoc and Joel Anand Samy, co-founders of International Leaders Summit and the Jerusalem Leaders Summit.

America’s Roundtable from Washington D.C. informs, educates, empowers and challenges the listening audience about the importance to restore, strengthen, and protect our freedoms, the rule of law, and free markets. America’s Roundtable advances the ideas of freedom, the significance of freedom of speech, limited government, and the application of free market principles to solve problems.

America’s Roundtable presents in-depth analysis of current events and public policy issues while applying America’s founding principles.

America’s Roundtable radio program - a strategic initiative of International Leaders Summit, focuses on America’s economy, healthcare reform, rule of law, security and trade, and its strategic partnership with rule of law nations around the world. The radio program features high-ranking US administration officials, cabinet members, members of Congress, state government officials, distinguished diplomats, business and media leaders and influential thinkers from around the world.

America’s Roundtable is aired by Lanser Broadcasting Corporation on 96.5 FM and 98.9 FM, covering Michigan’s major market and the upper Midwest, SuperTalk Mississippi Media’s 12 radio stations and 50 affiliates reaching every county in Mississippi and also heard in parts of the neighboring states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee, and through podcast on Apple Podcasts and other key online platforms.

Kimberly Yee, Arizona State Treasurer

— Divestment of $143 million from Ben & Jerry’s for boycotting Israel.

— Arizona invests in Israeli Bonds.

— Rising inflation hurting families, with the greatest toll on America's poorest communities including the working poor and single family households.

—23 State Treasurers and auditors and financial officers oppose a Biden administration proposal that empowers the IRS to monitor American bank accounts. In light of the pushback from citizens, joined by government officials and legislators, the original proposal of surveillance personal bank accounts of more than $600 of deposited funds, the Biden administration has raised the amount to $10,000.

— Discussing the impact of pro-growth solutions in Arizona, and how the rest of America can fuel greater rates of economic growth through principled economic reforms, supporting free enterprise and unleashing economic liberty.

https://ileaderssummit.org/americas-roundtable-podcasts/
https://ileaderssummit.org/services/americas-roundtable-radio/
https://ileaderssummit.org/ | https://jerusalemleaderssummit.com/

America's Roundtable on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/americas-roundtable/id1518878472

Twitter:
@KimberlyYeeAZ
@ileaderssummit
@NatashaSrdoc
@JoelAnandUSA

America's Roundtable is co-hosted by Natasha Srdoc and Joel Anand Samy, co-founders of International Leaders Summit and the Jerusalem Leaders Summit.

America’s Roundtable radio program - a strategic initiative of International Leaders Summit, focuses on America’s economy, healthcare reform, rule of law, security and trade, and its strategic partnership with rule of law nations around the world. The radio program features high-ranking US administration officials, cabinet members, members of Congress, state government officials, distinguished diplomats, business and media leaders and influential thinkers from around the world.

America’s Roundtable is aired by Lanser Broadcasting Corporation on 96.5 FM and 98.9 FM, covering Michigan’s major market, SuperTalk Mississippi Media’s 12 radio stations and 50 affiliates reaching every county in Mississippi and also heard in parts of the neighboring states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee, and through podcast on Apple Podcasts and other key online platforms.

— America's Failing Schools | In 2018, America ranked 11th out of 79 countries in science and 30th in math.

“The U.S. economy would grow 4.5% in the next 20 years if our students’ math and science skills were as strong as the rest of the world’s."
Eric A. Hanushek, economist, Hoover Institution at Stanford University

— America's national debt at $28 trillion.

"I do not believe the debt overhang is the real problem. I believe the real problem is government spending. Government debt is a problem in the long run. Obviously, if the government continues to run deficits for a long period of time, it will sooner or later have to monetize them. So I do not deny that is a real problem. However, it is a mistake to concentrate on the debt as such instead of concentrating on why the debt was created, which is by excessive government spending. What is called a deficit is a form of taxation. It is a very bad form of taxation, but it is a form of taxation. However, it does have some good features. The deficit is the only thing that is keeping spending from going up still faster. Moreover, I do not know of any component of government expenditures that does less harm than the payment of interest. If interest rates tomorrow were zero so that government did not have to pay any interest, what would happen to the money it saved? Do you think it would reduce the deficit? You are kidding yourself.
"Milton Friedman, Nobel Laureate in Economics

The Honorable Maurice McTigue, QSO, is Vice President for Outreach at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and a founding Executive Advisory Board Member of the US-based International Leaders Summit.

McTigue has testified on Capitol Hill and published articles in many major media outlets, including the New York Times, the Atlantic, Bloomberg Businessweek, US News & World Report, and the Chicago Tribune.

McTigue advised the Office of Management and Budget and most federal agencies in the Clinton and Bush administrations on issues of accountability and transparency and has consulted with legislators and governors in more than 30 states. McTigue was a special advisor to Louisiana’s Commission on Streamlining Government and was named to Virginia governor Bob McDonnell’s Commission on Government Reform and Restructuring.

A former cabinet minister and member of parliament in his native New Zealand, McTigue was one of the architects of the “New Zealand miracle,” which dramatically reformed the country’s government and economy by implementing market-driven, pro-growth policies. He later became New Zealand’s ambassador to Canada.

In a ceremony at Buckingham Palace in 1999, Queen Elizabeth II bestowed upon McTigue the prestigious Queen’s Service Order, in recognition of his public service. This is one of the highest honors attainable for civil service in New Zealand.

https://ileaderssummit.org/services/americas-roundtable-radio/
https://ileaderssummit.org/ | https://jerusalemleaderssummit.com/

America's Roundtable on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/americas-roundtable/id1518878472

Twitter:
@ileaderssummit
@NatashaSrdoc
@JoelAnandUSA

America's Roundtable is co-hosted by Natasha Srdoc and Joel Anand Samy, co-founders of International Leaders Summit and the Jerusalem Leaders Summit.

America’s Roundtable radio program - a strategic initiative of International Leaders Summit, focuses on America’s economy, healthcare reform, rule of law, security and trade, and its strategic partnership with rule of law nations around the world. The radio program features high-ranking US administration officials, cabinet members, members of Congress, state government officials, distinguished diplomats, business and media leaders and influential thinkers from around the world.

America’s Roundtable is aired by Lanser Broadcasting Corporation on 96.5 FM and 98.9 FM, covering Michigan’s major market, SuperTalk Mississippi Media’s 12 radio stations and 50 affiliates reaching every county in Mississippi and parts of the neighboring states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee, and through podcast on Apple Podcasts and other key online platforms.

A former cabinet minister and member of parliament in his native New Zealand, McTigue was one of the architects of the “New Zealand miracle,” which dramatically reformed the country’s government and economy by implementing market-driven, pro-growth policies. He later became New Zealand’s ambassador to Canada and received the prestigious Queen’s Service Order in recognition of his public service from Queen Elizabeth II.

McTigue has testified on Capitol Hill and published articles in many major media outlets, including the New York Times, the Atlantic, Bloomberg Businessweek, US News & World Report, and the Chicago Tribune. McTigue advised The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and most federal agencies in the Clinton and Bush administrations on issues of accountability and transparency and has consulted with legislators and governors in more than 30 states. McTigue was a special advisor to Louisiana’s Commission on Streamlining Government and was named to Virginia governor Bob McDonnell’s Commission on Government Reform and Restructuring.

For further details about Maurice McTigue and his leadership in advancing principled reforms in his home country of New Zealand, the United States of America and Europe — please review these articles and videos:

Rolling Back Government: Lessons from New Zealand
https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/rolling-back-government-lessons-from-new-zealand/

Video: Maurice McTigue | The Rule of Law, Jerusalem Leaders Summit 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_x1fpYL4eJw

Video: Maurice McTigue: Advancing Reforms in Eastern Europe | HRT Prime Time News — Croatia Radio and Television | International Leaders Summit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXOUcLgCzRs

https://ileaderssummit.org/americas-roundtable-podcasts/
https://ileaderssummit.org/services/americas-roundtable-radio/
https://ileaderssummit.org/ | https://jerusalemleaderssummit.com/

America's Roundtable on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/americas-roundtable/id1518878472

Twitter:
@ileaderssummit
@NatashaSrdoc
@JoelAnandUSA

America's Roundtable is co-hosted by Natasha Srdoc and Joel Anand Samy, co-founders of International Leaders Summit and the Jerusalem Leaders Summit.

America’s Roundtable radio program - a strategic initiative of International Leaders Summit, focuses on America’s economy, healthcare reform, rule of law, security and trade, and its strategic partnership with rule of law nations around the world. The radio program features high-ranking US administration officials, cabinet members, members of Congress, state government officials, distinguished diplomats, business and media leaders and influential thinkers from around the world.

America’s Roundtable is aired by Lanser Broadcasting Corporation on 96.5 FM and 98.9 FM, covering Michigan’s major market, SuperTalk Mississippi Media’s 12 radio stations and 50 affiliates reaching every county in Mississippi and also heard in parts of the neighboring states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee, and through podcast on Apple Podcasts and other key online platforms.