Florida Escalates ESG War, Says BlackRock’s Larry Fink ‘Did It to Himself’

Florida is planning broader steps in its fight against asset managers that offer environmental, social and governance investments, including sweeping legislation and pulling more state funds from BlackRock Inc., the state’s chief financial officer said.

Lawmakers will put forward new legislation next year that will require investments to be guided only on potential returns, and will steer the state away from doing business with banks that make lending choices on anything more than customers’ ability to repay loans, Jimmy Patronis and state Representative Bob Rommel said in interviews Wednesday in Tallahassee, Florida.