BOISE, Idaho — A group of conservative Idaho lawmakers is asking managers of the state's employee retirement system to divest in tech companies they say don't value free speech.
The 22 Republican lawmakers and Republican Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin in a letter sent Monday say that $650,000 should be removed from Twitter, Amazon, Google, Apple and Facebook. Those companies have either banned former President Donald Trump from social media platforms or taken other actions angering his supporters.
The lawmakers say that by investing in those companies, retirement fund managers are censoring the political and religious speech of Idaho residents. The Public Employee Retirement System responded with a memo citing investment strategy, but didn't mention divesting.
