A senate bill prohibiting the state of Florida from doing business with companies participating in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel passed with a stunning majority.
Florida’s Senate, by a vote of 112-2, on Wednesday passed a bill banning the state of Florida from conducting business with corporate entities participating in the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Bill 86, which passed through both houses of the Legislature, will soon go to Governor Rick Scott’s desk.
The legislation requires “the State Board of Administration to identify all companies that are boycotting Israel or are engaged in a boycott of Israel in which the public fund owns direct or indirect holdings by a specified date; requiring the public fund to create and maintain the Scrutinized Companies that Boycott Israel List that names all such companies; prohibiting a state agency or local governmental entity from contracting for goods and services that exceed a specified amount if the company has been placed on the Scrutinized Companies that Boycott Israel List.”
“The Florida bill is the strongest of any anti-BDS measure passed through a state legislature, according to Peggy Shapiro, the Midwest director of Israel advocacy group StandWithUs, who lobbied for the bill, because it targets BDS activities through banning both state investment and procurement in such entities,” Times of Israel reported.
By: United with Israel Staff