Legislation which has become law in Kansas will protect state investments, including the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System, or KPERS.

Kansas State Treasurer Steven Johnson says House Bill 2100, the Kansas Public Investments and Contracts Protection Act, became law Monday without the governor’s signature.

According to Johnson, this bill will ensure that public dollars – particularly our state pension fund – are invested in ways that produce the highest possible returns with the lowest acceptable risk, and that public contracts are awarded to the entities best-qualified to fulfill them.

Johnson said “I am encouraged that Gov. Kelly allowed this bill to become law without her signature. There is a broad consensus that so-called environmental, social or governance (ESG) criteria should not take the place of traditional fiduciary principles in decisions about how taxpayer dollars are spent and invested. I commend the members of the Legislature for their work on this important legislation.”