As you are probably aware, I've been calling for Florida to divest its state pension plan of investments propping up Russian president Putin [[link removed]] , fueling his war crimes in Ukraine, and working against the global sanctions regime. Since I started calling for this divestment, Florida's investments in Russia have lost over $280m in value.
Investing in Putin is bad for freedom, and a bad investment.
Today, along with 29 co-signed lawmakers , I sent a letter urging Governor DeSantis, House Speaker Sprowls, and Senate President Simpson to add the divestment of Russian assets to the upcoming special session agenda. Read the letter here [[link removed]] .
I've already written the bill [[link removed]] . It's nearly identical to how our state has previously divested from Cuba, Venezuala, and Iran [[link removed]] . Versions of it have already passed [[link removed]] with not just bipartisan support, but unanimous support in dozens of state legislatures across the nation.
THIS SHOULDN'T BE PARTISAN! Still, I'll just spoil this for you right now: not a single Republican signed onto this letter. I'm old enough to remember when I was a Republican, when war hero John McCain would bash President Obama for not being tough enough on Russia. And now, the modern-day GOP can't even be bothered to stand with an innocent nation war-torn by Russia.
And I'm going to make some additional points for the trolls that I know are going to have a field day with this one:
*
Yes,
they
had
a
fair
chance.
It's
been
68
days
since
I
first
filed
the
amendment
and
I
personally
reached
out
to
each
member,
and
not
one
was
willing
to
stand
up
to
their
party
bosses
and
do
the
right
thing.
*
Yes,
we
are
capable
of
divesting
from
Russia.
This
isn't
something
complicated
like
when
the
Governor
called
to
divest
from
Twitter
last
week...
*
The
$280m
is
the
LOSS
we
incurred
on
our
Russian
investments
in
2022
out
of
an
original
investment
of
$307m.
*
Going
into
the
year,
Florida
had
INCREASED
its
investments
in
Russia.
Without
divesting,
Florida
could
at
any
moment
start
buying
NEW
Russian
stocks
again.
*
Florida
has
invested
in
Ukraine
just
0.5%
of
what
we
have
invested
in
their
invader.
$280m is REAL money that our retirees no longer have to fund their pensions. I personally grovel over a few hundred thousand dollars to fix the damn roads in my district, so this is nothing to scoff at. Still, in the grand scheme of the war in Ukraine, Florida's role is on the sidelines. BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN WE SHOULDN'T AT LEAST STAND ON THE SIDE OF FREEDOM!
I know what side of freedom I'm on, I've known it since I first joined the Navy after 9/11. I'm PROUD to be on the right side of history for Ukraine - the side of freedom.
Andrew Learned
Candidate for Florida House (FL-69)
AndrewLearned.com
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