Alabama lawmakers will again consider passing a bill that would prohibit weighing environmental, social and governance standards when awarding public contracts.

The bill, introduced by Rep. Chris Brown (R-Hollinger's Island), is significantly different from the bill that passed the House without debate in the previous Congress.

The new law focuses primarily on individuals' personal ESG ratings and prohibits companies with public contracts from using ESG ratings as the basis for hiring, firing, or evaluating employees. Masu.

The law means companies contracting with the state cannot evaluate employees on things like personal dietary choices, carbon footprints or contributions to social justice issues.

Last year's anti-ESG bill by Sen. Dan Roberts (R-Mountain Brook) has already been signed into law. The bill was broader in that it provided for certain areas in which other companies wishing to contract with the state could not “economically boycott.”

Sectors include fossil fuels, timber, mining, agriculture, and firearms and ammunition manufacturers.

It also excludes boycotting companies that are not committed to complying with environmental standards, particularly regulations to offset, reduce or eliminate greenhouse gas emissions. or companies that do not meet certain composition, compensation, and disclosure standards. or businesses that do not facilitate access to abortion, gender or gender reassignment surgery, medication, treatment, or therapy.

Mr. Brown introduced this bill in the last Congress, but it did not gain the support to pass the bill.

The bill is part of a wave of bills across the country challenging ESG standards, which the Alabama Republican Party has previously called “report cards.”

Some of the state's largest corporate entities and lobbyists, including Regions, RSA, and the Business Council of Alabama, take similar criteria into account when selecting business partners.