Connecticut Treasurer Denise L. Nappier and Connecticut Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney today called for legislation authorizing the $22 billion Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds, Hartford, to divest from companies linked to Sudan in protest of genocide in the country's Darfur region, announced Ms. Nappier, sole trustee of the Connecticut fund.
"Under these extraordinary circumstances, the law we are proposing is sound public policy," Ms. Nappier said in a statement.
"In making a decision to divest, or not invest, in a particular company, the Connecticut law would allow the treasurer to consider a number of factors, including whether a company provides resources used by the Sudanese government to implement policies of genocide, the extent to which a company undertakes humanitarian efforts in Sudan and whether a company is authorized by the U.S. government to do business in Sudan. Companies would be notified prior to divestment," according to the statement.