We urge you to establish a socially responsible investment policy for Sacramento City Pool A funds and a divestment plan from corporations that do not comply with this policy.

We envision a policy that supports life-affirming investments that remain in line with the city’s need to meet its fiduciary responsibilities. This includes setting standards for divestment from corporations knowingly causing severe and widespread harm: the fossil fuels, weapons, and tobacco industries, as well as corporations complicit in or profiting from labor exploitation, prison labor and mass incarceration, immigration detention, and severe human rights violations such as apartheid and genocide.

Currently, City of Sacramento funds are invested in weapons and militarized equipment manufacturers such as Lockheed Martin, Honeywell and Caterpillar. These companies are complicit in apartheid and genocide in Palestine and fueling conflict across the globe. These investments, as well as those in companies directly or indirectly involved in human rights violations, labor exploitation, and environmental destruction, do not represent the values our City stands for. Instead, they perpetuate widespread death and destruction that directly impacts families in our community.

We commend the Council for divesting from fossil fuel and tobacco companies in 2019 and 2021, respectively. The Council made these decisions in recognition of the widespread harm these companies cause to people and the environment. However, without a socially responsible investment policy in place, there is nothing to prevent future councils from reinvesting in these harmful industries.

We demand that public funds be divested from such severe destruction, and strategically reinvested into companies and projects that adhere to international ethical standards. We want investments that benefit Sacramento; investments that support accessible housing, transportation, education, an equitable energy transition, youth empowerment, and effective strategies to provide stable housing and safe shelter to unhoused people in our city.

We call on the Council to adopt a socially responsible investment policy that aligns with the City’s 2040 General Plan and supports human rights, workers’ rights, and environmental justice.