This New Castle County Council anti-boycott bill requires the county pension board to establish a [blacklist] of companies engaged in boycotts of Israel or of companies based in Israel or its occupied territories. The board is required to divest its holdings from blacklisted companies.
This anti-boycott bill prohibits state contracts with entities that adopt and apply boycotts in a discriminatory manner. The bill amends Massachusetts’ debarment law in order to penalize contractors that adopt “policies against any sovereign nation or peoples recognized by the government of the United States which are used to discriminate in violation of any state or federal law prohibiting discrimination in public accommodations or employment.” Debarred companies are prohibited from contracting with the state for a prescribed period of time. Boycotts for Palestinian rights based on an entity’s complicity in Israel’s violations do not discriminate against a protected class and thus fall outside the scope of the bill. However, the lawmakers who put forward these bills have stated their intent to exclude individuals and companies engaged in boycotts for Palestinian rights from state contracts.
This anti-boycott defunding bill prohibits state institutions of higher education from using state aid to fund or provide funds for membership in or travel to meetings of academic entities that engage in boycotts of countries that host New York state colleges, a short list that includes Israel. Schools that violate the prohibition are not eligible to receive state funds during the academic year in which the violation occurred. The bill provides exceptions for boycotts of countries determined by the United States to be state sponsors of terrorism, boycotts connected with labor disputes, or boycotts protesting unlawful discriminatory practices as determined by New York law. Related bill: S 2715.
This anti-boycott bill prohibits state investment in and state contracts with entities that engage in boycotts of Israel or companies based in Israel or territories it occupies. The bill requires the state to create a blacklist of corporations, non-profits, or groups engaged in prohibited boycotts. State agencies may not enter into contracts and contractors may not subcontract with blacklisted entities. Contractors must provide written certification that they are not on the blacklist. The state comptroller and public retirement funds are prohibited from investing in entities engaged in prohibited boycotts. Related bill: S 2430.
This anti-boycott defunding bill prohibits state institutions of higher education from using state aid to fund or provide funds for membership in or travel to meetings of academic entities that engage in boycotts of countries that host New York state colleges, a short list that includes Israel. Schools that violate the prohibition are not eligible to receive state funds during the academic year in which the violation occurred. The bill provides exceptions for boycotts of countries determined by the United States to be state sponsors of terrorism, boycotts connected with labor disputes, or boycotts protesting unlawful discriminatory practices as determined by New York law. Related bill: A 7340.
This anti-boycott bill prohibits state investment in and state contracts with entities that engage in boycotts of Israel or companies based in Israel or territories it occupies. The bill requires the state to create a [blacklist] of corporations, non-profits, and groups engaged in prohibited boycotts. State agencies may not enter into contracts with blacklisted entities, and contractors must provide written certification that they are not on the blacklist. The state comptroller and public retirement funds are prohibited from investing in entities engaged in prohibited boycotts. Related bill: A 5847.
HR 4009 is an anti-boycott defunding bill that amends the Higher Education Act to make higher education institutions that participate in boycotts of Israel ineligible for federal financial assistance under the Act, which typically funds area studies programs. The bill would require the formation of a public blacklist of such institutions. “Participating” in a boycott of “Israeli institutions or scholars” includes when “any significant part of the institution, or any organization significantly funded by the institution adopts a policy or resolution, issues a statement, or otherwise formally establishes the restriction” of academic involvement based on institutions or academics’ connection to Israel. It was introduced in the wake of the American Studies Association’s resolution endorsing the boycott of Israeli academic institutions complicit in Israel’s violations of Palestinian rights, which triggered a wave of efforts to penalize such boycotts.
HR 4776 is an anti-boycott defunding bill that prohibits institutions of higher education that participate in boycotts of Israel from receiving any federal funds. The bill specifies that federal funds cannot be used to enter into contracts or other agreements, make grants, or provide loans to any institution “that participates in a boycott of the Israeli government, economy, or academia.” The prohibition extends to funds available through the Higher Education Act, which funds area studies programs. Participating in a boycott includes an institution that “adopts a policy or resolution, issues a statement, or otherwise formally establishes the restriction of discourse, cooperation . . . or any other involvement with the Israeli government, economy, or academia.” The bill would require the creation of a public blacklist of institutions determined to be participating in such a boycott. The bill was introduced in the wake of the American Studies Association’s resolution endorsing the boycott of Israeli academic institutions complicit in Israel’s violations of Palestinian rights, which triggered a wave of efforts to penalize such boycotts.
HR 5727 is an anti-boycott bill that amends the 1979 Export Administration Act, under which federal contractors were prohibited from boycotting Israel pursuant to the Arab League boycott. The amendment requires that prospective contractors provide written certification that they “are not a boycotting person.” A boycott refers in the bill to “refusing, or requiring any other person to refuse, to do business with or in the boycotted country, with any national or resident of the boycotted country, or a business concern organized under the laws of the boycotted country.” The bill expands prohibited boycotts beyond the Arab League boycott to include “any boycott against a country with which the United States has a free trade agreement.” In doing so, the bill conflates coercive commercial boycotts like the Arab League boycott with, for example, constitutionally protected political expression in support of Palestinian rights. The bill also requires the publication of a list of contractors that have been debarred or suspended from eligibility for federal contracts because of a false certification.
HR 644, the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, contains several anti-boycott measures, including a statement of policy opposing “politically motivated actions” to penalize or limit commercial relations with Israel, such as BDS campaigns. The law states that discouraging boycotts for Palestinian rights is a principal U.S. objective in negotiating foreign trade agreements. It directs the President to report annually on BDS efforts to Congress, including on the specific steps the United States is taking to discourage other countries or international organizations from establishing barriers to trade with Israel or its illegal settlements. The bill also bars state and federal courts from recognizing or enforcing foreign judgments against U.S. persons that are based on a finding that conducting business in Israel or Israeli-controlled territories violates the law. After signing HR 644 into law, President Obama issued a signing statement that the law’s conflation of Israel and the territories it occupies is “contrary to longstanding bipartisan United States policy” and signaled that his administration would not apply those aspects of the law. Related legislation: S 1269, HR 1907.
