A new bill could require that state employee pension funds divest from any corporations that have publicly announced plans to stop trading lobster caught in the Gulf of Maine.
Sen. Eric Brakey, R-Androscoggin, said his bill is modeled on a 2021 law that called on Maine to divest state pension funds from fossil fuel companies.
"If we are operating on that precedent, I think that precedent should extend to those companies that are boycotting Maine lobster," Brakey told state lawmakers Thursday at a brief public hearing on the bill.
For now, Brakey said he believes the proposal may only apply to Amazon, which owns Whole Foods. The grocery chain announced last fall that it would stop carrying Gulf of Maine lobster after the fishery lost sustainability certifications from the Marine Stewardship Council and the Seafood Watch program operated by California’s Monterey Bay Aquarium.
The Maine Public Employees Retirement System says it has about $70 million in holdings that could be required to divest under the new proposal, but much more study is needed about the potential impacts to $18.3 billion state fund.
A review of fossil fuel holdings covered under the 2021 divestment law took a year to complete, said Katherine Morin, director of actuarial and legislative affairs for MainePERS.
"As with the previously enacted laws, implementing additional divestment laws would require MainePERS to expend resources on identifying investments covered by the laws and analyzing portfolio and cost impacts. Divestment would result from this process only if doing so was in the best financial interest of MainePERS members as pension recipients," she said.
The Legislature is considering another bill that would disqualify Whole Foods from a state tax incentive program.
