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Illinois House votes unanimously to divest from Russia due to war in Ukraine

The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Lindsey LaPointe (19th District), directs state pension funds to eliminate any investments in Russian-based companies, prepares the state to accept Ukrainian refugees, and sets up a group to study Russian money-laundering in Illinois real estate.

Associated Press
Associated Press
— 2 min read
Illinois House votes unanimously to divest from Russia due to war in Ukraine

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois House on Tuesday unanimously approved legislation to penalize Russia for its war in Ukraine.[1]

The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Lindsey LaPointe, a Chicago Democrat of the 19th District, directs state pension funds to eliminate any investments in Russian-based companies, prepares the state to accept Ukrainian refugees, and sets up a group to study Russian money-laundering in Illinois real estate.

“This bill in itself is not going to end the war in Ukraine but it’s a way to harness our collective power and do everything we can in Illinois to make a statement to support the Ukrainian people,” LaPointe said.

With input from Republicans, LaPointe added a provision to create a study group on foreign interference in state elections to prevent a repeat of Russian operatives hacking into data maintained by the Illinois State Board of Elections in 2016. She also put in a measure requiring higher education institutions to report any endowment or other donation they receive from anyone associated with an entity on the Treasury Department's sanctions list.

The proposal was approved 114-0 and moves to the Senate.

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The bill is HB1293.[2]

Notes & References

  1. O'connor, John. “Illinois Democrats' Plan Seeks to Divest from Russian Debt.” AP NEWS. Associated Press, March 21, 2022. https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-business-europe-chicago-fcd17fe6165f364a85489f2128e6d29d. ↩︎

  2. https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=10200HB1293ham005&GA=102&SessionId=110&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=129968&DocNum=1293&GAID=16&SpecSess=&Session= ↩︎

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