[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3424 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3424

  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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 6, 2018

  Mr. Merkley introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Retirement Investments for a 
Sustainable Economy Act of 2018'' or the ``RISE Act of 2018''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) continued inaction by the Federal Government with 
        respect to addressing climate change poses a significant threat 
        to the growth and stability of the economy and population of 
        the United States;
            (2) pension and retirement funds are vulnerable to distinct 
        risks relating to climate change, including--
                    (A) climate impact risks, including sea level rise, 
                heat waves, desertification, ocean acidification, 
                flooding, drought, extreme weather, and wildfires;
                    (B) carbon-constrained demand risks, including 
                stranded carbon assets, which financial institutions 
                have estimated as having a value of 
                $100,000,000,000,000; and
                    (C) climate liability risks, including from 
                evolving interpretations of fiduciary and tortious 
                duties of care; and
            (3) assessing the potential impact of climate-related risks 
        on national and international financial systems, including 
        retirement savings accounts and pensions, is an urgent concern.

SEC. 3. CLIMATE CHOICE STOCK INDEX FUND.

    Section 8438 of title 5, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through (10) as 
                paragraphs (7) through (13), respectively;
                    (B) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) 
                as paragraphs (2), (4), and (5), respectively;
                    (C) by inserting before paragraph (2), as so 
                redesignated, the following:
            ``(1) the term `Climate Choice Stock Index Fund' means the 
        Climate Choice Stock Index Fund established under subsection 
        (b)(1)(G);'';
                    (D) by inserting after paragraph (2), as so 
                redesignated, the following:
            ``(3) the term `entity' means any sole proprietorship, 
        organization, association, corporation, partnership, joint 
        venture, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, 
        limited liability company, or other business association, 
        including any wholly-owned subsidiary, majority-owned 
        subsidiary, parent-country national, or affiliate of the 
        business association, that exists for the purpose of making 
        profit;''; and
                    (E) by inserting after paragraph (5), as so 
                redesignated, the following:
            ``(6) the term `fossil fuel entity' means any entity--
                    ``(A) with proven carbon reserves; or
                    ``(B) that explores for, extracts, processes, 
                refines, or transmits coal, oil, gas, oil shale, or tar 
                sands;''; and
            (2) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (E), by striking 
                        ``and'' at the end;
                            (ii) in subparagraph (F), by striking the 
                        period at the end and inserting ``; and''; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(G) a Climate Choice Stock Index Fund as provided 
                in paragraph (6).''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(6)(A) The Board shall select an index which is a 
        commonly recognized index comprised of common stock.
            ``(B) The historical performance of the index selected 
        under subparagraph (A) shall be comparable to that of the other 
        investment funds and options available under this subsection.
            ``(C) The Climate Choice Stock Index Fund shall be invested 
        in a portfolio that is designed--
                    ``(i) to replicate the performance of the index 
                selected under subparagraph (A);
                    ``(ii) such that, to the extent practicable, the 
                percentage of the Climate Choice Stock Index Fund that 
                is invested in each stock is the same as the percentage 
                determined by dividing the aggregate market value of 
                all shares of that stock by the aggregate market value 
                of all shares of all stocks included in the index 
                selected under subparagraph (A); and
                    ``(iii) to ensure that no investment in the 
                portfolio is an investment with respect to a fossil 
                fuel entity.''.

SEC. 4. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REPORT.

    (a) Definition.--In this section, the term ``fossil fuel entity'' 
has the meaning given the term in section 8438(a) of title 5, United 
States Code, as amended by this Act.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to 
Congress a report that--
            (1) analyzes, as of that date of enactment--
                    (A) the proportion of the stocks, bonds, and other 
                obligations held by the Thrift Savings Fund that are 
                stocks, bonds, or other obligations of a fossil fuel 
                entity; and
                    (B) the effect on individuals holding accounts in 
                the Thrift Savings Fund of the Thrift Savings Fund 
                holding stocks, bonds, or other obligations of fossil 
                fuel entities under the climate policies that would be 
                needed to limit global temperature increase to 2 
                degrees Celsius, given technology that is available and 
                economically feasible as of that date of enactment; and
            (2) provides a plan and mechanism that would allow the 
        Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board to divest from 
        fossil fuel entities to prevent or mitigate any negative 
        investment risk on individuals holding accounts in the Thrift 
        Savings Fund.
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