State Contracts

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. Similar bills have failed to pass in previous sessions (S. 2430, A. 5847).

This anti-boycott bill prohibits state investment in and state contracts with any person, including individuals, corporations, and nonprofits, that boycott allied nations, including Israel and the territories it occupies. The bill requires the state to create a blacklist of persons engaged in prohibited boycotts. The state comptroller and public retirement funds are prohibited from investing in blacklisted entities. State agencies may not enter into contracts with blacklisted companies. Contractors must provide written certification that they are not on the blacklist and have not engaged in prohibited boycotts.

This Town Board anti-boycott measure prohibits North Hempstead from contracting with “an individual or company identified by the New York State Office of General Services or the Office of the New York State Comptroller as engaging in a boycott of Israel.” New York’s governor signed an anti-boycott executive order (EO 157) in 2016 that called for the creation of this blacklist of entities that engage in political boycotts of Israel following the failure of several legislative efforts targeting boycotts for Palestinian rights at the state level.

This anti-boycott measure prohibits Rockland County from contracting with entities engaged in boycotts for Palestinian rights. It requires contractors to provide a written certification that they do not engage in BDS activities. Violations are subject to penalties, including debarment from future contracts for up to three years. Resolution 195 rescinds and replaces the identical Resolution 137.

This anti-boycott bill prohibits Bal Harbour from contracting with businesses unless they provide a written certification that they are not and will not engage in a boycott of persons or entities based in or doing business with a jurisdiction with which the United States enjoys open trade. Because contract prohibitions only apply to boycotts undertaken on a discriminatory basis, they would not apply to boycotts for Palestinian rights. The bill passed unanimously. 

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 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 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 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 1572 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 State of Israel, with any national or resident of the State of Israel, or a business concern organized under the laws of the State of Israel.” The bill expands prohibited boycotts beyond the Arab League boycott to include “any boycott against the State of Israel.” In doing so, the bill conflates coercive commercial boycotts like the Arab League boycott with 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. Though similar to HR 5727 introduced in the previous Congress, this bill makes explicit that it targets boycotts of Israel specifically.