Office of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Lisa Kalustian, Chief Deputy Director
300 South Spring Street, Suite 16701
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213)897-0322
FAX (213)897-0319
PRESS RELEASE
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Governor Schwarzenegger Signs Legislation Directing Divestment from Sudan
Building on California’s leadership in fighting genocide in Sudan with
economic measures, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed AB 498
< y?bill_number=ab_498&sess=CUR&house=B& author=hernandez> authored by Assemblymember Ed Hernandez
(D-West Covina) prohibiting companies with business operations in Sudan
from bidding on state contracts for goods and services.
"California will not underwrite the horrors of murder and genocide in
Sudan," Governor Schwarzenegger said. "With this legislation, we are
continuing to send a message that California will not condone nor enable
economic gain at the expense of innocent people in Sudan."
The ongoing devastation in Darfur has killed an estimated 400,000 and
displaced over 2.5 million Sudanese. AB 498 ensures that California will
not award state contracts to companies that directly or indirectly aide
the Sudanese government.
In September 2006, Governor Schwarzenegger signed two bills
< se/4057/> , AB 2179 and AB
2941, prohibiting the state’s pension funds from investing in companies
with active business in Sudan and indemnified the University of
California from liability that might result from its divestments from
Sudan. The Governor also sent a letter <;
to President Bush urging him to sign the Darfur Peace and
Accountability Act of 2006, which was later enacted into law. In
addition, the Governor signed AB 221
< /7710/> last year, creating
the California Public Divest from Iran Act prohibiting CalPERS and
CalSTRS from investing public employee retirement funds in a company
with business operations in Iran.
In the 1980s, the state approved similar measures to allow state
entities to divest in South Africa in order to protest its apartheid
policies.