PanArmenian.Net
12 Sep 2019, 13:37 GMT+10
PanARMENIAN.Net - The California State Senate passed the Turkish Divestment Bill, AB 1320, on September 11, with 33 out of 40 State Senators voting in favor and the remaining 7 abstaining, reported the Armenian Assembly of America. CA State Senator Andreas Borgeas (R-8), whose district covers California';s San Joaquin Valley, served as the floor manager of this bill. AB 1320 now moves back to the California State Assembly, where it has enjoyed broad bipartisan support, for a concurrence vote before it is sent to California Governor Gavin Newsom';s desk.
Formally known as the 'Public employee retirement systems: prohibited investments: Turkey' bill, this legislation was introduced and principally authored by California State Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian (D-46). The bill would prohibit California';s public employment retirement agencies - CalPERS and CalSTRS - from making new investments or renewing existing investments in Turkish government-issued and controlled debt securities and bonds, pending U.S. government sanctions on Turkey for the latter';s state-sponsored denial of the Armenian Genocide.
In addition to Assemblymember Nazarian, AB 1320 was co-introduced by State Assemblymembers Laura Friedman (D-43) and Jesse Gabriel (D-45), principally co-authored by State Senator Anthony Portantino (D-25), and co-authored by State Senator Scott Wilk (R-21) and State Assemblymembers Phillip Chen (R-55), Luz Rivas (D-39), and Chris Holden (D-41).
Prior to this vote, AB 1320 was approved on August 30 by the CA State Senate Appropriations Committee, on July 2 by the CA State Senate Judiciary Committee, and on June 26 by the CA State Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement (LPER) Committee. Significantly, Armenian Assembly of America Southern California Regional Council member, Helen Haig, jointly testified with Assemblymember Nazarian about the moral and economic merits of AB 1320 during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing and vote, while Armenian Assembly Western Region Director, Mihran Toumajan, joined Assemblymember Nazarian to testify before the Senate LPER Committee';s hearing and vote.
'On behalf of Armenian Assembly of America activists and members in the State of California, we extend our gratitude to CA State Assembymember Nazarian for authoring and shepherding this bill in both state legislative chambers,' stated Armenian Assembly of America Western Region Director Toumajan.
'I am hopeful that Governor Newsom will approve this legislation, which would ultimately send a strong message to the Government of Turkey. The fifth largest economy in the globe - the State of California - deplores Ankara';s state-sponsored denial of the Armenian Genocide, its publicly-known aiding and abetting of terrorist groups like ISIL and al-Qaeda, and its continued human rights violations towards its own Kurdish and Christian minorities, in addition to Muslim and Christian populations living in neighboring Iraq and Syria,' Toumajan added.
Get a daily dose of Calgary Monitor news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Calgary Monitor.
More InformationOTTAWA, Canada: With Canada Post struggling to maintain operations amid labour unrest, rivals like FedEx and UPS are stepping in to...
New Delhi [India], July 9 (ANI): The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday filed a supplementary charge sheet at Patiala...
New Delhi [India], July 9 (ANI): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted searches across 11 locations in Punjab and...
Wellington [New Zealand], July 9 (ANI): Ahead of the tri-series against Zimbabwe and South Africa, New Zealand have suffered a major...
Taipei [Taiwan], July 9 (ANI): Taiwan is hoping to avoid steep US import tariffs as it continues negotiations with the Trump administration,...
The delay adds yet another twist to Trump's original 90 deals in 90 days promise -- so far yielding only two vague trade agreements...
OTTAWA, Canada: With Canada Post struggling to maintain operations amid labour unrest, rivals like FedEx and UPS are stepping in to...
The delay adds yet another twist to Trump's original 90 deals in 90 days promise -- so far yielding only two vague trade agreements...
New Delhi [India], July 9 (ANI): India's share in the global equity market capitalisation rose to 4 per cent in June 2025, recovering...
(Photo credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images) Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had two hits and two RBIs, Davis Schneider homered and Chris...
New Delhi [India], July 9 (ANI): India's share in the global market capitalisation rose to 4 per cent in June 2025, recovering from...
(Photo credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images) Giancarlo Stanton hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning, Aaron Judge added his 34th...