Pension Investment Bill Targets Northern Ireland

An alliance of some of the Assembly’s most liberal and conservative members got together Monday to approve legislation that would guide California’s pension fund investments away from companies with operations that practice religious or ethnic discrimination in Northern Ireland.

The bill, by Assemblyman John Burton (D-San Francisco), was approved on a bipartisan 42-20 vote and sent to the Senate.

The measure would require the Public Employees Retirement System and the State Teachers Retirement System to determine whether corporations in which they invest practice “non-discrimination” in employment and “freedom of workplace” opportunity.

The governing boards of the two pension funds would have to compile a list each year of the corporations doing business in Northern Ireland and then evaluate whether the firms had taken “substantial action” toward complying with the so-called MacBride Principles.

The principles, named for Amnesty International co-founder Sean MacBride, call for affirmative action to bring under-represented religious minorities into the workplace and train them for advancement. The principles also advocate the abolishment of practices that reserve job openings for applicants from certain religious groups.

Burton said the bill addresses the “tremendous discrimination” in Northern Ireland.

“What this does is use the leverage of our vast retirement funds to encourage investment in businesses that follow fair employment practices,” he said.

Burton, one of the Assembly’s most liberal members, was joined by Assemblyman Pat Nolan (R-Glendale), one of the lower house’s most conservative members. Nolan said the legislation would repair some of the damage done by “centuries of conflict” in that country.

“It makes no sense for our retirement system to invest in an unstable, politically volatile economy,” said Nolan, who embraced Burton after the vote. “This bill will help stabilize the economy, help bring fairness to employment there and . . . encourage them to bring about responsibility and stability.”