State Treasurer Curtis Loftis and 14 Other State Treasurers Oppose Biden Administration’s Undue Pressure on Banking Industry

State Treasurer Curtis Loftis today announced he has joined a coalition of 15 State Treasurers to speak out against apparent attempts by President Joe Biden’s administration to pressure banks and other large financial institutions into divesting from coal, oil and natural gas companies.

“As the State’s Banker and Chairman of the State Board of Financial Institutions, I am strongly opposed to President Biden and his Democratic colleagues’ attempt to force their Green New Deal initiatives through Congress,” Treasurer Loftis said. “It’s become apparent they don’t have the support needed to succeed, and now they’re trying to bully our financial institutions to enact their radical agenda.”

The Treasurers, led by West Virginia State Treasurer Riley Moore, are speaking out following media reports that Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry has privately pressured banks to cut off lending for fossil fuel industries.

The group has sent a letter to Kerry outlining their opposition to these efforts and suggesting steps they might take to discourage financial institutions from participating in the Kerry-backed scheme.

“As a collective, we strongly oppose command-and-control economic policies that attempt to bend the free market to the political will of government officials,” the Treasurers wrote. “It is simply antithetical to our nation’s position as a democracy and a capitalist economy for the Executive Branch to bully corporations into curtailing legal activities.”

The Treasurers observed that restricting lending to these industries, which are engaged in perfectly legal activities, would do substantial harm to their states’ economies, resulting in significant job losses.

“The coal, oil, and natural gas industries in our states are vital to our nation’s economy,” they wrote. “These industries provide jobs, health insurance, critical tax revenue, and quality of life to families across our country. As the Obama Administration’s War on Coaldemonstrated, reckless attacks on the fossil fuel industry ultimately cut off paychecks for workers and take food off the table for hard-working middle-class families.”

The Treasurers said they will closely monitor which financial institutions bow to Administration pressure. Moreover, the Treasurers further pledged to respond in the best interests of their constituents.

“As the chief financial officers of our respective states, we entrust banks and financial institutions with billions of our taxpayers’ dollars,” they wrote. “It is only logical that we will give significant weight to the fact that an institution engaged in tactics that will harm the people whose money they are handling before entering into or extending any contract.”

In addition to West Virginia Treasurer Moore, South Carolina Treasurer Loftis was joined on the letter by Alabama Treasurer John McMillan, Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee, Arkansas Treasurer Dennis Milligan, Idaho Treasurer Julie A. Ellsworth, Kentucky Treasurer Allison Ball, Mississippi Treasurer David McRae, Missouri Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick, Nebraska Treasurer John Murante, North Dakota Treasurer Thomas Beadle, Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague, Oklahoma Treasurer Randy McDaniel, Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity, and South Dakota Treasurer Josh Haeder.

The Treasurers’ letter can be viewed here: https://bit.ly/3bSAQPF.