Ohio lawmakers had Iran investment ties

Ohio lawmakers had Iran investment ties

	Published : Mon, 30 Apr 2007 22:16 By : Agencies Print this Story

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Both sponsors of a bill that would pull Ohio's largest investment funds out of Iran hold stock in General Electric Co., whose business ties to the sanctioned nation have came under scrutiny.

State Reps. Shannon Jones and Josh Mandel, both freshman Republicans, reported owning GE stock on state financial disclosure forms last year -- and both said Monday they still hold the shares. Neither said how much they own and didn't know about GE's operations in Iran until after they bought the stock.

'What you are calling about is the crux of the issue,' said Mandel, an Iraq Marine veteran from Lyndhurst. 'Until large institutional investors take leadership in this arena, there are not going to be very many opportunities for Joe Citizen to invest terror-free.'

Former CIA director James Woolsey is scheduled to testify in favor of the Ohio bill Thursday.

Mandel said GE already had announced that it would no longer seek business in Iran when the Ohio divestment proposal was introduced April 12. Jones, of Springboro, said she never considered selling her GE stock because she believed U.S. companies already were banned under federal law from investing in Iran.

'For me and my husband, who spent a lot of time on this trying to understand it, this (terror-free investing) is certainly going to be our own personal filter as we make future investment decisions for my family,' Jones said. 'I, frankly, was totally unaware of this until I started researching it a few months ago. So therein lies most of the frustration.'

A message seeking comment was left with GE on Monday.

Thirteen countries or regions have been penalized after being accused by the U.S. of supporting terrorism, making human rights violations or other misbehavior. States have increasingly followed suit with similar state-level investment bans affecting countries including Iran, Sudan, Cuba and Libya.

So far, Missouri, California, Georgia, New Jersey, Louisiana, Texas, Pennsylvania and Vermont are considering divestment bills and the Florida Senate unanimously approved that state's version Friday.

Last month, Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray announced he also planned to bring the state portfolios he oversees in line with federal guidelines against terrorism-connected investment.

The proposal backed by Mandel and Jones further bans the state's five pension funds, its injured worker insurance fund and its state Controlling Board from doing dealings with Iran-tied foreign businesses specifically.

'We structured the screen the way we did because it wasn't our intention to penalize U.S. companies set into long-term contracts,' Jones said. 'But certainly on a personal level, any company that would choose to continue to do business in Iran is not a company I'm interested in investing in.'

GE and Halliburton Co. were among U.S. companies criticized for exploiting a loophole in the federal prohibition by doing business with sanctioned nations through their foreign subsidiaries. The practice has been targeted in legislation recently introduced in Congress.

Both companies have announced that would take no new business in Iran.