Three Nebraska legislators have introduced a bill aimed at preventing the state and its subdivisions from conducting transactions, investments, or business with Natural Asset Companies (NACs). This development follows the recent decision by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to withdraw a proposal that would have added NAC listing standards to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
Sponsored by State Senators Dave Murman of District 38, Ben Hansen of District 16, and Kathleen Kauth of District 31, Legislative Bill 1395 is also known as the Natural Asset Company Prohibition Act. The legislation primarily seeks to regulate NACs' involvement in various state affairs, with an emphasis on environmental conservation and responsible management of Nebraska's natural resources.
The proposed legislation bars the sale, lease, or encumbrance of state-owned land to NACs. Its objective is to prevent these companies from directly or indirectly influencing Nebraska's valuable resources. Additionally, it restricts public funds - including state-controlled investments and retirement systems - from engaging with NACs, thereby safeguarding financial resources.
The bill encompasses bond offerings, ensuring that the state and its political subdivisions refrain from participating in financial arrangements involving natural asset companies or their projects. It also sets limitations on the use and transfer of assets for these companies' benefit. Violations carry legal consequences such as contract nullification and asset reversion to state ownership.
Margaret Byfield, executive director of American Stewards of Liberty (ASL), expressed her support for this legislative move. "The states taking action to prevent their assets from being listed into NACs is a necessary step," said Byfield. "Additionally, a provision should be added preventing these natural processes and ecosystem services from being considered real property that can be monetized."
ASL is an organization that uncovered the efforts surrounding NACs and led a campaign against their creation. "What proponents of the natural asset effort are trying to establish is that these rights are equal to other 'run with the land rights,' like mineral and water rights," Byfield added. "NACs would have been the first vehicle to ‘monetize' these values. The federal government is attempting to do the same thing through the creation of ‘Natural Capital Accounts,’ where they are poised to monetize the ecosystem services value created through federal conservation programs and easements to the federal balance sheet."
