Oklahoma 2025 2025 Regular Session

Oklahoma House Bill HB1561 Engrossed / Bill

Filed 03/27/2025

                     
 
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ENGROSSED HOUSE 
BILL NO. 1561 	By: Duel, Lepak, Manger, and 
Archer of the House 
 
   and 
 
  Hines of the Senate 
 
 
 
 
 
An Act relating to public finance; enacting the Foreign 
Adversary Divestment Act of 2025; making findings; defining 
terms; prohibiting certa in entities from owning certain 
investments; prescribing procedures for divestment; 
prescribing duties for the State Treasurer; providing 
immunity from certain liability for specific pension systems; 
providing for affirmative defense; providing for 
indemnification; providing for codification; and providing an 
effective date. 
 
 
 
 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA: 
SECTION 1.     NEW LAW     A new section of law to be codified 
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 11001 of Tit le 62, unless there 
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows: 
This act shall be known and may be cited as the “Foreign 
Adversary Divestment Act of 2025”. 
SECTION 2.     NEW LAW     A new section of law to be codified 
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 11002 of Title 62, unless there 
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows: 
The Foreign Adversary Divestment Act of 2025 will ensure that 
Oklahoma public investment dollars are not put at risk in countries   
 
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of concern and do not fund the development of the military 
technologies and surveillance tools of foreign adversaries that 
impede the furthering of Oklahoma’s interests and the interests of 
the United States of America, by requiring the divestment of public 
pension dollars and university endowment funds from countries of 
concern.  
SECTION 3.     NEW LAW     A new section of law to be codified 
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 11003 of Title 62, unless there 
is created a duplication in numbering, re ads as follows: 
As used in this act: 
1.  “Company” shall mean any sole proprietorship, organization, 
association, corporation, partnership, joint venture, limited 
partnership, limited liability partnership, limited liability 
company, or other entity or bus iness association, including wholly 
owned subsidiaries, majority -owned subsidiaries, parent companies, 
or affiliates of those entities or business associations, that exist 
for the purpose of making profit; 
2.  “Divestment” shall mean the sale or otherwise contractual 
end of any current or planned investments; 
3.  “Domicile” shall mean either the country in which a company 
is registered, where the company’s affairs are primarily completed, 
or where the majority of ownership share is held;   
 
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4.  “Foreign adversary” shall mean any country designated by the 
United States Secretary of State as hostile or a Country of 
Particular Concern (CPC) ; 
5.  “Investment” shall mean any transfer of funds in any active 
or passive, direct or indirect structure which seeks to gene rate 
revenue or accomplish any other gain, including nonmonetary; 
6.  “Official government capacity” shall mean any role, elected 
or appointed, in a government or its subsidiaries; 
7.  “State-managed fund” shall mean any short - or long-term 
investment structure which is state -managed, state-run, state-
controlled, or otherwis e overseen by Oklahoma, a state agency, or 
any political subdivision within Oklahoma or agency controlled by 
the same, in which the state or subdivision has primary discretion 
over or vested interest in.  Nothing in this definition shall be 
construed so as to not apply to any fund which is subject to the 
purview or direction of Oklahoma or applicable subdivision, and 
populated, wholly or in part, with state funds, but managed by a 
third-party entity, such as a fiduciary.  This shall include, but is 
not limited to: 
a. public pension funds, public retirement funds, or 
other state-sponsored funds, that is sponsored, 
maintained, or contributed to or required to be 
contributed to by Oklahoma or any locality within 
Oklahoma, or any subsidiaries of such ,   
 
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b. city, county, or other local or municipal entity 
investment funds, “rainy day funds” , or other 
political-subdivision-controlled investment 
structures, and 
c. university or college endowments, t rusts, or other 
structure which constitutes, wholly or in part, a 
public institution of higher education’s investable 
assets; and 
8.  “State-owned enterprise” shall mean any company owned or 
controlled, in whole or in part, by a government or by individual s 
acting in official government capacities in any form. 
SECTION 4.     NEW LAW     A new section of law to be codified 
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 11004 of Title 62, unless there 
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as foll ows: 
A.  All state and local managed funds are prohibited from 
holding investments in any: 
1.  Foreign adversary; 
2.  Company owned or controlled by a foreign adversary; 
3.  State-owned enterprise of a foreign adversary ; 
4.  Company domiciled within a fore ign adversary; or  
5.  Other entity within a foreign adversary. 
B.  All state and local managed funds are prohibited from 
investing or depositing public funds in any bank that is domiciled 
or has its principal place of business in a foreign adversary.   
 
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SECTION 5.     NEW LAW     A new section of law to be codi fied 
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 11005 of Title 62, unless there 
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows: 
A.  All state-managed funds are required to divest of any 
holdings prohibited in this act by January 1, 2036, or ten (10) 
years after the effective date of this act, whichever is earliest. 
B.  For purposes of this section, “divest” shall mean reducing 
the value of prohibited investments to no more than five -hundredths 
of one percent (0.0005) of the market value of all assets unde r 
management by a state or locally managed fund. 
C.  For the purposes of this section, any time a new country is 
designated as a foreign adversary, all state -mandated funds are 
required to divest of any holdings in the newly designated foreign 
adversary within ten (10) years after the designation of the country 
as a foreign adversary.  If a country is re -designated as a foreign 
adversary after previously being removed from this list, the ten-
year divestment period shall be from the last time the country is 
designated as a foreign adversary. 
SECTION 6.     NEW LAW     A new section of law to be codified 
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 11006 of Title 62, unless there 
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows: 
A.  The State Treasurer shall develop a notification system to 
be able to identify foreign adversaries and Countries of Particular   
 
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Concern.  Such information shall be available to the entities 
subject to the provisions of this act. 
B.  No later than six (6) months after th e effective date of 
this act, the entities subject to the provisions of this act shall 
identify all companies that are state -owned enterprises of, are 
domiciled within, whose primary aff airs are conducted within, or 
whose majority ownership is held within a foreign adversary, and 
companies owned or controlled by a foreign adversary .  The 
identification process shall include , but are not limited to , the 
following: 
1.  Reviewing and relying on publicly available information 
regarding companies that are state -owned enterprises of, are 
domiciled within, whose primary affairs are conducted within, or 
whose majority ownership share is held within a foreign adversary, 
including information provid ed by nonprofit organizations, research 
firms, and government entities; 
2.  Contacting asset managers and fund managers contracted by a 
state-managed fund that invest in companies and in funds that are 
state-owned enterprises of, are domiciled within, whos e primary 
affairs are conducted within, or whose majority or plurality 
ownership share is held within a foreign adversary; and 
3.  Contacting other institutional investors that have divested 
from or engaged with companies that are state -owned enterprises of,   
 
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are domiciled within, whose primary affairs are conducted within, or 
whose majority ownership share is held within a foreign adversary . 
SECTION 7.     NEW LAW     A new section of law to be codified 
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 11 007 of Title 62, unless there 
is created a duplication in numbering, r eads as follows: 
A.  As used in this section, "public pension system" means the: 
1.  Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System; 
2.  Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement Syste m; 
3.  Uniform Retirement System for Justices and Judges; 
4.  Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement System; 
5.  Teachers' Retirement System of Oklahoma; and 
6.  Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System. 
B.  No public pension system shall be liable in any action for 
damages based upon the loss or alleged loss of value in pen sion 
system assets based upon the provisions of this act.  The provisions 
of this subsection shall also be applicable to any action filed 
naming the governing board of a public pension s ystem, one or more 
members of the governing board of a public pension system, or any of 
its employees as defendants. 
C.  In any action filed naming a public pension system or any 
other person described in subsection B of this section as 
defendants, it shall be a defense to the action that the value of 
pension system assets i ncreased at any time after the date of the 
alleged decrease in the value of pension system assets resulting   
 
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from failure to comply with the provisions of this act.  The 
provisions of this subsection shall be applicable with regard to an 
increase in the value of pension system assets occurring at any time 
after such date, including the date as of which the action is filed.  
For purposes of this section, any increase in the value of pension 
system assets occurring during the pendency of an appeal from a 
final judgment or other order establishing liability for damages may 
also be used in defense of the claim for damages and the time period 
shall be inclusive of any period during which a case is remanded 
from an appellate court to a district court. 
SECTION 8.     NEW LAW     A new section of law to be codified 
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 11008 of Title 62, unless there 
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as foll ows: 
A.  The State of Oklahoma, public pension system plans as 
defined in this act, as well as officers, board members, and 
employees of the state or the public pension systems are immune from 
civil liability for any act or omission related to any provisio n 
under this act. 
B.  In addition to the immunity provided under subsection A of 
this section, officers, board members, and employees of the state or 
the public pension system plans are entitled to indemnification from 
the public pension system for all losses, costs and expenses, 
including reasonable attorney fees, associate d with defending 
against any claim or suit related to any provision of this act.   
 
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SECTION 9.  This act shall become effective November 1, 2025. 
Passed the House of Represe ntatives the 26th day of March, 2025. 
 
 
 
  
 	Presiding Officer of the House 
 	of Representatives 
 
 
 
Passed the Senate the ___ day of __________, 2025. 
 
 
 
  
 	Presiding Officer of the Senate