Democratic Treasurers Hit Back at Republicans’ Anti-ESG Stances

A group of state and city public finance officials are resisting Republicans’ war with Wall Street over their environmental and social policies.

The coalition of 14 Democrat officials, including California Treasurer Fiona Ma, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander and Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs, criticized new laws that have been enacted in states such as Texas and West Virginia, which bar banks from certain public contracts because of their stances on guns and fossil fuels. Other states, including Florida, have barred environmental, social and governance investment strategies from public funds.

“This type of short-term thinking imposes an ...