New Jersey governor signs Russia-Belarus sanctions law

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law legislation that will prohibit certain government dealings with businesses linked to Russia and Belarus and calls on the $93.8 billion New Jersey Pension Fund, Trenton, to divest certain investments in those countries.

Mr. Murphy signed the bill Wednesday, moving quickly to impose sanctions on Russia for the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine and on Belarus, which he described as a crony of Russia.

Identical bills were introduced Feb. 28 in the state Senate and General Assembly. The Senate unanimously voted for the bill on March 3 and the General Assembly unanimously supported the bill March 8.

"We are sending a strong message today to Vladimir Putin and his cronies in Belarus that their actions will not be tolerated," Mr. Murphy said in a news release.

"We stand ready and willing to help implement this new legislation in order to ensure taxpayer dollars are not supporting Russia's indefensible invasion of Ukraine," State Treasurer Elizabeth Maher Muoio said in the release. "To date, we have assessed the pension fund's exposure to Russian investments and are in the process of identifying what state contracts, if any, might have ties to Russian businesses."

The New Jersey Pension Fund had $50 million in Russia-related investments as of Feb. 28.

The law prohibits the state from investing pension or annuity funds in an entity appearing on a "prohibited activities" list developed by the Department of the Treasury. The law says the state and its subdivisions are prevented from "banking with, holding equity investments in, or maintaining insurance coverage issued by a financial institution" for any entity on the list.

According to the law, the prohibited activities list includes:

• Companies in which Russia or Belarus has any direct equity share.
• Entities having any business operations that involve contracts with, or the provision of goods to Russia or Belarus;
• Entities headquartered or having their principal place of business in Russia or Belarus; and
• Entities supporting, assisting, or facilitating Russia or Belarus in their campaigns to invade Ukraine, either through in-kind support or for profit.

Among other things, the law says any person or entity placed on this list is ineligible to:

• Enter into or renew a contract with a state agency, local government, school board, state college or county college for the provision of goods or services;
• File or renew a public works contractor registration with the Department of Labor and Workforce Development; or
• Get approval for or continue to receive an economic development subsidy from the Economic Development Authority, be awarded a municipal property tax abatement, or make or enter into a payment in-lieu of property tax agreement.