An act relating to public finance, the official text

STATE OF OKLAHOMA

1st Session of the 60th Legislature (2025)

HOUSE BILL 1561                     By: Duel

                                     AS INTRODUCED

An Act relating to public finance; enacting the
Foreign Adversary Divestment Act of 2025; making
findings; defining terms; prohibiting certain
entities from owning certain investments; prescribing
procedures for divestment; prescribing duties for the
State Treasurer; providing for construction of act;
providing immunity from certain liability for
specific pension systems; providing for affirmative
defense; providing for codification; and providing an
effective date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:

SECTION 1.       NEW LAW  A new section of law to be codified

in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 11001 of Title 62, unless there

is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:

This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Foreign

Adversary Divestment Act of 2025".

SECTION 2.       NEW LAW  A new section of law to be codified

in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 11002 of Title 62, unless there

is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:

The Foreign Adversary Divestment Act will ensure that Oklahoma

public investment dollars are not put at risk in countries of

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concern and do not fund the development of the military technologies

and surveillance tools of foreign adversaries that impede the

furthering of Oklahoma's interests and the interests of the United

States of America, by requiring the divestment of public pension

dollars and university endowment funds from countries of concern.

SECTION 3.      NEW LAW    A new section of law to be codified

in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 11003 of Title 62, unless there

is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:

As used in this act:

1. "Company" shall mean any sole proprietorship, organization,

association, corporation, partnership, joint venture, limited

partnership, limited liability partnership, limited liability

company, or other entity or business association, including wholly

owned subsidiaries, majority-owned subsidiaries, parent companies,

or affiliates of those entities or business associations, that exist

for the purpose of making profit;

2. "Divestment" shall mean the sale or otherwise contractual

end of any current or planned investments;

3. "Domicile" shall mean either the country in which a company

is registered, where the company's affairs are primarily completed,

or where the majority of ownership share is held;

4. "Foreign adversary" shall mean any country designated by the

United States Secretary of State as hostile or a Country of

Particular Concern (CPC);

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       5. "Investment" shall mean any transfer of funds in any active
or passive, direct or indirect structure which seeks to generate
revenue or accomplish any other gain, including nonmonetary;

       6. "Official government capacity" shall mean any role, elected
or appointed, in a government or its subsidiaries;

       7. "State-managed fund" shall mean any short- or long-term
investment structure which is state-managed, state-run, state-
controlled, or otherwise overseen by Oklahoma, a state agency, or
any political subdivision within Oklahoma or agency controlled by
the same, in which the state or subdivision has primary discretion
over or vested interest in. Nothing in this definition shall be
construed so as to not apply to any fund which is subject to the
purview or direction of Oklahoma or applicable subdivision, and
populated, wholly or in part, with state funds, but managed by a
third-party entity, such as a fiduciary. This shall include, but is
not limited to:

                a. public pension funds, public retirement funds, or
                         other state-sponsored funds, that is sponsored,
                         maintained, or contributed to or required to be
                         contributed to by Oklahoma or any locality within
                         Oklahoma, or any subsidiaries of such,

                b. city, county, or other local or municipal entity
                         investment funds, "rainy day funds", or other

Req. No. 12194  Page 3
            political-subdivision-controlled investment

            structures, and

c. university or college endowments, trusts, or other

            structure which constitutes, wholly or in part, a

            public institution of higher education's investable

            assets; and

8. "State-owned enterprise" shall mean any company owned or

controlled, in whole or in part, by a government or by individuals

acting in official government capacities in any form.

SECTION 4.      NEW LAW      A new section of law to be codified

in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 11004 of Title 62, unless there

is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:

A. All state and local managed funds are prohibited from

holding investments in any:

1. Foreign adversary;

2. State-owned enterprise of a foreign adversary;

3. Company domiciled within a foreign adversary;

4. Company owned or controlled by a foreign adversary;

5. State-owned enterprise of a foreign adversary;

6. Company domiciled within a foreign adversary; or

7. Other entity within a foreign adversary.

B. All state and local managed funds are prohibited from

investing or depositing public funds in any bank that is domiciled

or has its principal place of business in a foreign adversary.

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SECTION 5.      NEW LAW  A new section of law to be codified

in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 11005 of Title 62, unless there

is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:

A. All state-managed funds are required to immediately in good

faith begin divestment of any holdings prohibited in this act, with

total divestment achieved by January 1, 2028, or two (2) years after

the effective date of this act, whichever is earliest.

B. For purposes of this section, "total divestment" shall mean

reducing the value of prohibited investments to no more than five-

hundredths of one percent (0.0005) of the market value of all assets

under management by a state or locally managed fund.

SECTION 6.      NEW LAW  A new section of law to be codified

in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 11006 of Title 62, unless there

is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:

A. The State Treasurer shall develop a notification system to

be able to identify foreign adversaries and countries of particular

concern. Such information shall be available to the entities

subject to the provisions of this act.

B. No later than six (6) months after the effective date of

this act, the entities subject to the provisions of this act shall

identify all companies that are state-owned enterprises of, are

domiciled within, whose primary affairs are conducted within, or

whose majority ownership is held within a foreign adversary, and

companies owned or controlled by a foreign adversary. The

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identification process shall include, but are not limited to the
following:

       1. Reviewing and relying on publicly available information
regarding companies that are state-owned enterprises of, are
domiciled within, whose primary affairs are conducted within, or
whose majority ownership share is held within a foreign adversary,
including information provided by nonprofit organizations, research
firms, and government entities;

       2. Contacting asset managers and fund managers contracted by a
state-managed fund that invest in companies and in funds that are
state-owned enterprises of, are domiciled within, whose primary
affairs are conducted within, or whose majority or plurality
ownership share is held within a foreign adversary;

       3. Contacting other institutional investors that have divested
from or engaged with companies that are state-owned enterprises of,
are domiciled within, whose primary affairs are conducted within, or
whose majority ownership share is held within a foreign adversary;
and

       4. Retaining an independent research firm to identify companies
that are directly or indirectly investment holdings of a state or
local fund that are state-owned enterprises of, are domiciled
within, whose primary affairs are conducted within, or whose
majority or plurality ownership share is held within a foreign
adversary.

Req. No. 12194  Page 6
SECTION 7.      NEW LAW  A new section of law to be codified

in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 11007 of Title 62, unless there

is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:

Nothing in this act shall be construed so as to inhibit,

conflict, impede, or otherwise interfere with any required financial

safeguards, fiduciary requirements, and other sound investment

criteria which any state-managed fund is subject to, nor any

applicable state or federal law.

SECTION 8.      NEW LAW  A new section of law to be codified

in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 11008 of Title 62, unless there

is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:

A. As used in this section, "public pension system" means the:

1. Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System;

2. Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement System;

3. Uniform Retirement System for Justices and Judges;

4. Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement System;

5. Teachers' Retirement System of Oklahoma; and

6. Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System.

B. No public pension system shall be liable in any action for

damages based upon the loss or alleged loss of value in pension

system assets based upon the provisions of this act. The provisions

of this subsection shall also be applicable to any action filed

naming the governing board of a public pension system, one or more

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members of the governing board of a public pension system, or any of
its employees as defendants.

       C. In any action filed naming a public pension system or any
other person described in subsection B of this section as
defendants, it shall be a defense to the action that the value of
pension system assets increased at any time after the date of the
alleged decrease in the value of pension system assets resulting
from failure to comply with the provisions of this act. The
provisions of this subsection shall be applicable with regard to an
increase in the value of pension system assets occurring at any time
after such date including the date as of which the action is filed.
For purposes of this section, any increase in the value of pension
system assets occurring during the pendency of an appeal from a
final judgment or other order establishing liability for damages may
also be used in defense of the claim for damages and the time period
shall be inclusive of any period during which a case is remanded
from an appellate court to a district court.

       SECTION 9. This act shall become effective November 1, 2025.

60-1-12194      MAH  01/15/25

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