OKLAHOMA CITY – Rep. Collin Duel, R-Guthrie, on Wednesday passed a bill in the House that would require state and local managed funds to divest from foreign adversary nations.
House Bill 1561 would create the “Foreign Adversary Divestment Act of 2025.”
"It's imperative we enact this as a matter of state and national security," Duel said. "This would keep Oklahoma public investment dollars safe from interference from countries of concern. This also would assure we are not funding the development of military technologies and surveillance tools of our adversaries that could be used against us."
Duel is a decorated Army Ranger who served the nation during four combat deployments to Afghanistan. He said it is this that drives the decision to better protect the state and nation from outside threats.
Under the provisions of the bill, all state and local managed funds would be prohibited from holding investments in any foreign adversary, as well any company owned or controlled by a foreign adversary, any state-owned enterprise of a foreign adversary, or any company or other entity domiciled within a foreign adversary.
All state-managed funds would be required to divest of any holdings prohibited in this act by Jan. 1, 2036, or 10 years after the effective date of this act, whichever is earliest. Divestment would mean reducing the value of prohibited investments to no more than five-hundredths of one percent of the market value of all assets under management by a state or locally managed fund.
The act would require the state treasurer to develop a notification system to identify foreign adversaries or countries of particular concern as designated by the Secretary of State. Entities subject to the provision of the act would have six months from the effective date to identify all companies affected.
HB1561 now moves to the State Senate where it is authored by Sen. Kelly Hines, R-Edmond.