Essential Estrogen

In November of last year, The Daily Iowan reported that IPERS had roughly $28 million directly invested in companies that Sudan Divestment Task Force lists as "warranting scrutiny." In other words, these are companies which could be funding and/or facilitating genocide in Darfur, Sudan.

Rep. Dawn Pettengill is one of two Democratic legislators who have made divestment a top priority this session. Pettengill along with Sen. Michael Connolly are equally concerned IPERS benefits from stock in PetroChina, a front for the Chinese government-owned China National Petroleum Corp. CNPC is an oil consortium accused by scholars and research groups of providing financing and weaponry to government-backed militias in western Sudan.

According to the bills in both the House and Senate, companies would be asked to halt operations and given 90 days to comply. Once that time period expired, if the company had failed to address the concerns, the state would begin a divestment process. While the original bills called for divestment in 15 months, the Senate bill has been changed to allow a three year divestment. Pettengill, who has been pushing for this measure upwards of three years, calls the Senate compromise unacceptable.

"I can understand bing more lenient with the mutual funds, but we need to drop the companies we're directly invested in right away. IPERS had an annual return of 11.1 percent, and none of those companies was above that. If anything, they're bringing the average down."

If passed and signed into law, Iowa would become one of six states who have elected to make their voice heard on a national level. The belief is that if enough individuals and states pull their money, the companies would be pressured into ceasing harmful operations -- which allegedly include arms-for-oil deals -- that have led to the death of nearly half a million Darfuris and the displacement of 2.5 million more. According to Pettengill, IPERS has more than $100 million invested in companies directly or indirectly connected with Sudan.

Both bills have cleared their respective committees.