Senate Republican lawmakers say the State Treasurer’s Office is politicizing the management of nearly $60 billion in state investments.

Senate Republicans said it’s the Treasurer’s duty to protect the state’s investment portfolio and implement savings programs to help Illinois residents create a better future for themselves and their families. However, questions have been raised about the Treasurer putting his political agenda before his fiduciary responsibility, spurring State Senator Win Stoller to propose Senate Resolution 1003.

The Treasurer is a leading advocate of the highly controversial and politically motivated Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investment philosophy. ESG has become a subjective and amorphous criterion linked to a controversial political agenda. Due to its inherently political nature, ESG has fallen out of favor, leading many major investment firms to abandon this approach and focus on maximizing investment returns.