Oklahoma Treasurer Expands Anti-DEI Campaign to Amazon, Google, Netflix and More
by Paul Monies, Oklahoma Watch March 5, 2025
Oklahoma Treasurer Todd Russ is taking his crusade against so-called woke investing from major banks and the state’s pension systems to the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, a $2 billion fund created by voters to address the health-care and human costs from smoking-related illnesses.
Russ used his position as chairman of the trust’s Board of Investors to invite a shareholder proxy advisory company to review the corporate policies of Amazon, Google parent company Alphabet and several other companies. Bowyer Research briefed TSET’s Board of Investors at a special meeting in November.
The treasurer said Oklahoma, through TSET, will place resolutions before investors at those companies’ annual shareholder meetings to push for what he called political neutrality. He also wants to disclose how the companies’ donations to various charities could discriminate on religious or speech grounds.
“In this moment, when too many corporate actors are using their influence to advance ESG, double down on DEI, and muddy the waters on real fiduciary obligations, we are proud to be stepping into this arena to get companies out of politics, and back into a focus on shareholder return,” Russ said in a written statement issued last month.
Publicly traded companies hold annual meetings to let shareholders have a say on routine matters such as executive pay, board of director elections and selecting audit firms. But shareholders can also ask securities regulators to put other items on the agenda, such as corporate statements regarding labor relations, human rights and climate change. Directors typically advise shareholders to vote against such outside resolutions.
Aside from Amazon and Alphabet, the other companies targeted by Russ are AirBnB, Blackstone, GoDaddy, Lululemon, Morgan Stanley, Morningstar, Netflix, Wyndham and Yum! Brands. The treasurer’s office said Tuesday it wouldn’t release the number of shares the TSET trust fund holds in the companies without an open records request. Oklahoma Watch first asked about the number of shares on Feb. 19.
The Bowyer Research presentation to the TSET Board of Investors in November conflates governmental restrictions on free speech with restrictions by social media platforms or web hosting companies. Those private companies police content based on their terms of use. The presentation cites research from groups like the Heritage Foundation on legislation that was never passed and the Viewpoint Diversity Score, which counts Bowyer as a member of its advisory council.
The Bowyer presentation to the TSET Board of Investors largely criticizes companies for endorsing positions from the Human Rights Campaign. Among the companies included in the HRC report are Tesla Inc., the electric-vehicle manufacturer headed by Elon Musk, the Trump administration’s point person in the so-called DOGE effort to cut federal spending.
Oklahoma energy companies are also rated in the latest HRC report. Oklahoma City-based Devon Energy Inc. scored 80/100 in the Corporate Equality Index. Tulsa-based ONEOK Inc. received the same score.
Bowyer’s presentation said Amazon’s association with the Global Alliance for Responsible Media smeared outlets as disinformation, including Joe Rogan’s podcast on Spotify and Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) social media site. GARM disbanded in August.
“But recent reports have shown it colluded with the world’s largest advertising buyers, agencies, industry associations and social media platforms through the Global Alliance for Responsible Media to demonetize platforms, podcasts, news outlets and others for expressing disfavored political and religious viewpoints,” the presentation said.
TSET is notable among state investment funds in that it forbids investment in any tobacco-related companies. The Board of Investors approved that policy in the first year of TSET’s operation.
Bowyer did not respond to a request for comment. But a section on the firm’s website said his proxy advisory research tries to push companies toward a neutral political position.
“That having been said, the guidelines do tend to support proposals from conservative groups, but only when those proposals themselves are focused on getting companies away from politics,” Bowyer’s website said.
Anti-ESG Law On Hold
Russ turned his attention to TSET after being repeatedly stymied in his efforts to enforce the state’s banking blacklist through his office. The Oklahoma Energy Discrimination Elimination Act is on hold, pending an appeal at the Oklahoma Supreme Court. Lawmakers passed the law in 2022 over concerns that large financial companies were too focused on climate pledges and goals at the expense of investments in fossil fuels.
After considering several changes to the law last year, legislators failed to send any to the governor for final approval. Russ’ office has declined to promulgate agency rules regarding the law, and it remains unclear how a financial company placed on the anti-ESG blacklist can be removed.
This year, lawmakers are considering a bill to move the Energy Discrimination Elimination Act to the attorney general’s office and away from the state treasurer. Senate Bill 714, by Sen. Dave Rader, R-Tulsa, passed the Senate Energy Committee on Feb. 13 by a vote of 10-1 and now heads to the Senate floor. Another bill, House Bill 2043 by Rep. Nick Archer, R-Elk City, would exempt local governments from the law. It passed a House committee Feb. 19 by a vote of 11-0 and cleared a House oversight committee last week.
Through a spokeswoman, Russ said he was looking forward to seeing the legislative process unfold.
“However, the state treasurer is elected and constitutionally obligated to focus on managing the state’s financial investments, which falls outside the typical purview of the attorney general’s office,” said Russ spokeswoman Lara Blubaugh. “Our preference is to work alongside the AG’s office to ensure that investment decisions are made solely for the financial benefit of plan participants, maintaining fiduciary responsibility as the top priority.”
Amazon Shareholders Reject Similar Proposal
“It’s just frustrating that my dollars in Oklahoma are being invested in their ETFs so they can use my proxies to vote the way they want it to be voted.”
Todd Russ
Amazon, which has grown quickly to become Oklahoma’s second-largest private employer at 15,000 employees, did not comment on Russ’ plans. Amazon shareholders last year overwhelmingly rejected a resolution sponsored by the conservative American Family Association and Bowyer Research to study viewpoint diversity. The American Family Association describes itself as being on the front lines of America’s culture war.
The treasurer’s foray into shareholder activism encompasses multiple interlocking relationships. Russ has attended several conferences hosted by the State Financial Officers Foundation, a group of Republican treasurers that has also provided him with talking points about anti-ESG laws. Russ’ chief of staff, Jordan Harvey, holds a leadership position at the State Financial Officers Foundation. Bowyer is on the foundation’s national advisory committee. The foundation honored Bowyer and his wife, Susan, with its State Economic Impact Award in October.
Russ appeared on Bowyer’s podcast, Meeting of the Minds, in May to talk about the Oklahoma banking blacklist. He said the proxy voting process was being hijacked by groups too focused on diversity issues. Six months later, Bowyer Research presented its plan for proxy advisory services from the TSET Board of Investors.
“It’s just frustrating that my dollars in Oklahoma are being invested in their ETFs (exchange-traded funds) so they can use my proxies to vote the way they want it to be voted,” Russ said on the podcast.
TSET’s five-member Board of Investors is a separate entity from TSET’s Board of Directors. The investor board sets the trust’s investment policies and certifies earnings from the trust fund for TSET projects. Apart from Russ as chairman, the Board of Investors has members appointed by the governor, Senate president pro tempore, speaker of the House and the state auditor and inspector.
Oklahoma voters created TSET in 2000 under State Question 692. It was the culmination of lawsuits filed by states against Big Tobacco to redress health-care and human costs from lung cancer, emphysema, heart disease and other smoking-related illnesses.
Each year, tobacco companies covered by the settlement contribute money to the master settlement agreement fund, which allocates it to the states. Nearly $165 billion has been paid to states under the settlement since 1999, with almost $1.9 billion going to Oklahoma, according to the National Association of Attorneys General.
This article first appeared on Oklahoma Watch and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Sarah Roderick-Fitch | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-07 17:04:00
(The Center Square) – The debate over whether taxpayers should be on the hook for constructing professional sports stadiums has made its way back to Capitol Hill as lawmakers look to end taxpayer subsidies for multi-billion-dollar complexes.
Reps. Don Beyer, D-Va., Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., and Sens. James Lankford, R-Okla., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., introduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation calling for the end of taxpayer subsidies to build professional sports complexes.
The No Tax Subsidies for Stadiums Act would terminate the ability for professional sporting teams to utilize tax-exempt municipal bonds to finance the construction of stadiums. The lawmakers argue that the tax exemptions were “originally intended to help local governments fund essential public infrastructure projects,” including hospitals, schools and roads.
The legislators claim the “loophole has enabled wealthy sports franchises to benefit from taxpayer dollars, often with little measurable economic return to the surrounding communities.”
The lawmakers contend that in the last 25 years, over 40 sports stadiums have been “financed” using the tax-exempted municipal bonds, claiming to have cost taxpayers “an estimated $4.3 billion in lost federal revenue.”
In February, The Center Square reported on $1.2 billion in public funds requested to help build a new stadium for the Cleveland Browns, which is estimated to cost $2.4 billion.
In 2023, The Center Square reported on another stadium project involving the construction of a new stadium to house the Tennessee Titans, requesting a $500 million bond from the state of Tennessee.
The Tax Foundation reported that, according to sports economists, over 50 years between 1970 and 2020, taxpayers “‘devoted $33 billion in public funds to construct major-league sports stadiums and arenas'” in the U.S. and Canada. Adding that the public was left “on the hook for nearly three-quarters of the costs of each new sports venue.”
In 2023, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced a plan to build a “world-class” entertainment district in Alexandria’s Potomac Yard neighborhood to house Washington’s NBA and NHL franchises as part of a $2 billion public-private partnership.
At the time, Youngkin touted the development as a major economic boost. Supporters claimed it would generate a $12 billion economic impact for Alexandria and the commonwealth while creating 30,000 jobs.
Despite the governor’s claim, The National Conference of State Legislatures says the “economic impact of stadiums” on cities “is negligible.” However, construction of new stadiums does create jobs, such as, construction and seasonal employment.
NCSL questioned the “quality of the jobs,” citing stadium workers and “game-day personnel,” who often perform “low wage, temporary and part-time” work.
Beyer, whose district includes Alexandria, argues that taxpayers shouldn’t be “forced to fund” sports complexes.
“Billionaire owners who need cash can borrow from the market like any other business. Arguments that stadiums boost job creation have been repeatedly discredited. In a time when there is a debate over whether the country can ‘afford’ investments in health care, childcare, education, or fighting climate change, it is ridiculous to even contemplate such a radical misuse of publicly subsidized bonds,” said Beyer.
SUMMARY: Meteorologist Joseph Neubauer forecasts a chilly Sunday with rain and snow expected in central and western Oklahoma, but minimal roadway issues. Temperatures will rise to the upper 40s and lower 50s, with any precipitation melting quickly. Tonight, expect temperatures to drop to around or below freezing, prompting a freeze watch from 1 a.m. to 8 a.m. Monday. Residents are advised to protect plants and pets. However, warmer weather is on the horizon, with highs in the 60s and 70s expected for Monday and Tuesday. Meteorologist Sabrina Bates will provide updates on potential rain and severe weather later.
Meteorologist Joseph Neubauer says snowfall out west melts fast. We’re still chilly today. Freeze alerts out for tonight. Warmer during the week ahead.
The state prisons board on Thursday approved sending out a request for general contractors to submit proposals to build a new prison in Franklin County.
According to documents provided to the board, the Department of Corrections will begin advertising the request on April 8, with a deadline for submitting proposals on April 22.
The department is aiming to receive approval from the Division of Building Authority in June. Also in June, the department plans to bring the project to the Arkansas Legislative Council for review.
Early sitework is proposed to start in September, with the start of construction for the planned 3,000-bed prison in January 2026.
The board also voted to appoint an executive committee to review the proposals and oversee the overall design process for the prison.
The executive committee will have “approval and decision-making authority” in the interest of making decisions about the proposed prison “expeditiously,” according to documents provided by the board.
“These decisions will not carry cost impacts until we have designed to the approved budget,” a document about the committee read. Department of Corrections spokesperson Rand Champion said committee members would be selected later.
The committee will submit the designs for each design phase to the Board of Corrections for approval. Once the budget is finalized, any changes that would impact the cost by more than $250,000 would require additional approval from the board, something that board chair Benny Magness expressed satisfaction with.
“That’s more than adequate to me,” Magness told officials from Vanir Construction Management Inc., which the board retained to oversee the firm selected to build the prison.
The board did not spend long discussing the prison, but briefly talked about utilities — specifically, how drinking water and wastewater service would be established for the prison, which is proposed for a rural part of Franklin County. Opponents of the prison site have criticized its selection for a lack of adequate infrastructure.
Vanir officials discussed potentially building pipelines to bring in drinking water from Fort Smith; a wastewater pipeline is receiving similar consideration. Meetings with the city of Fort Smith about the matter would be happening on Friday, said Mike Beaber, the regional director for Vanir. Being able to pipe wastewater to Fort Smith instead of building a treatment facility on-site would allow builders to “put that money back into” the prison.
“Nothing is off the table,” Beaber said.
A $750 million appropriation bill needed to fund the prison’s construction failed to pass the state Senate for the third consecutive day Thursday.
In addition to the Franklin County prison, the board also raised the budget of a bed expansion at a work-release unit in Mississippi County by $4 million, which brought it up to $6.3 million. It had originally approved a $2.3 million budget in 2022, but multiple changes in the design have led to delays. The original budget called for adding 50 beds; the project now calls for 100 beds.
“We’ve still done nothing?” Magness asked. A department official confirmed that was the case.
Now, the estimated cost of the planned expansion is $5.6 million.
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Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com.
