RISE Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8806 To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for an investment option under the Thrift Savings Plan that does not include investment in any fossil fuel companies. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 20, 2020 Ms. TLAIB (for herself, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, and Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, and Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris- diction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for an investment option under the Thrift Savings Plan that does not include investment in any fossil fuel companies. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Retirement Invest- 4 ments for a Sustainable Economy Act of 2020’’ or the 5 ‘‘RISE Act of 2020’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 Dec 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8806.IH H8806 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8806 IH SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 1 It is the sense of Congress that— 2 (1) continued inaction by the Federal Govern- 3 ment with respect to addressing climate change 4 poses a significant threat to the growth and stability 5 of the economy and population of the United States; 6 (2) pension and retirement funds are vulnerable 7 to distinct risks relating to climate change, includ- 8 ing— 9 (A) climate impact risks, including sea 10 level rise, heat waves, desertification, ocean 11 acidification, flooding, drought, extreme weath- 12 er, and wildfires; 13 (B) carbon-constrained demand risks, in- 14 cluding stranded carbon assets, which financial 15 institutions have estimated as having a value of 16 $100,000,000,000,000; and 17 (C) climate liability risks, including from 18 evolving interpretations of fiduciary and 19 tortious duties of care; and 20 (3) assessing the potential impact of climate-re- 21 lated risks on national and international financial 22 systems, including retirement savings accounts and 23 pensions, is an urgent concern. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 Dec 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8806.IH H8806 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8806 IH SEC. 3. CLIMATE CHOICE STOCK INDEX FUND. 1 Section 8438 of title 5, United States Code, is 2 amended— 3 (1) in subsection (a)— 4 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (4) 5 through (10) as paragraphs (7) through (13), 6 respectively; 7 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), 8 and (3) as paragraphs (2), (4), and (5), respec- 9 tively; 10 (C) by inserting before paragraph (2), as 11 so redesignated, the following: 12 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Climate Choice Stock Index 13 Fund’ means the Climate Choice Stock Index Fund 14 established under subsection (b)(1)(G);’’; 15 (D) by inserting after paragraph (2), as so 16 redesignated, the following: 17 ‘‘(3) the term ‘entity’ means any sole propri- 18 etorship, organization, association, corporation, part- 19 nership, joint venture, limited partnership, limited li- 20 ability partnership, limited liability company, or 21 other business association, including any wholly 22 owned subsidiary, majority-owned subsidiary, par- 23 ent-country national, or affiliate of the business as- 24 sociation, that exists for the purpose of making prof- 25 it;’’; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 Dec 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8806.IH H8806 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8806 IH (E) by inserting after paragraph (5), as so 1 redesignated, the following: 2 ‘‘(6) the term ‘fossil fuel entity’ means any en- 3 tity— 4 ‘‘(A) with proven carbon reserves; or 5 ‘‘(B) that explores for, extracts, processes, 6 refines, or transmits coal, oil, gas, oil shale, or 7 tar sands;’’; and 8 (2) in subsection (b)— 9 (A) in paragraph (1)— 10 (i) in subparagraph (E), by striking 11 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 12 (ii) in subparagraph (F), by striking 13 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 14 and’’; and 15 (iii) by adding at the end the fol- 16 lowing: 17 ‘‘(G) a Climate Choice Stock Index Fund 18 as provided in paragraph (6).’’; and 19 (B) by adding at the end the following: 20 ‘‘(6)(A) The Board shall select an index which 21 is a commonly recognized index comprised of com- 22 mon stock. 23 ‘‘(B) The historical performance of the index 24 selected under subparagraph (A) shall be comparable 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 Dec 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8806.IH H8806 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8806 IH to that of the other investment funds and options 1 available under this subsection. 2 ‘‘(C) The Climate Choice Stock Index Fund 3 shall be invested in a portfolio that is designed— 4 ‘‘(i) to replicate the performance of the 5 index selected under subparagraph (A); 6 ‘‘(ii) such that, to the extent practicable, 7 the percentage of the Climate Choice Stock 8 Index Fund that is invested in each stock is the 9 same as the percentage determined by dividing 10 the aggregate market value of all shares of that 11 stock by the aggregate market value of all 12 shares of all stocks included in the index se- 13 lected under subparagraph (A); and 14 ‘‘(iii) to ensure that no investment in the 15 portfolio is an investment with respect to a fos- 16 sil fuel entity.’’. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 Dec 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8806.IH H8806 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS