52:18A-89.14 Investment in companies which boycott Israel prohibited.

2. a. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, no assets of any pension or annuity fund under the jurisdiction of the Division of Investment in the Department of the Treasury, or its successor, shall be invested in any company that boycotts the goods, products, or businesses of Israel, boycotts those doing business with Israel, or boycotts companies operating in Israel or Israeli-controlled territory. This section shall not apply to those boycotts organized by foreign governments pursuant to 50 U.S.C. s.4607(c). The activities of any company solely providing humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people through either a governmental or non-governmental organization shall not render the company subject to the provisions of this act, P.L.2016, c.24 (C.52:18A-89.13 et seq.) unless it is also engaging in the prohibited boycotts or otherwise discriminating against goods, products, or businesses of Israel, or entities operating in Israel or Israeli-controlled territory.

b. The State Investment Council and the Director of the Division of Investment shall take appropriate action to sell, redeem, divest, or withdraw any investment held in violation of subsection a. of this section. This section shall not be construed to require the premature or otherwise imprudent sale, redemption, divestment, or withdrawal of an investment, but such sale, redemption, divestment, or withdrawal shall be completed not later than 24 months following the effective date of this act.

c. Within 120 days after the effective date of this act, the Director of the Division of Investment shall file with the Legislature, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), a report of all investments held as of the effective date that are in violation of subsection a. of this section. The State Investment Council and the Director of the Division of Investment shall use its best efforts to identify all companies that boycott Israel and these efforts shall include, but are not limited to, the following, as appropriate in the judgment of the State Investment Council and the Director of the Division of Investment:

(1) reviewing and relying on publicly available information regarding companies that boycott Israel, including information provided by non-profit organizations, research firms, and government entities;

(2) contacting other institutional investors that have divested from companies that boycott Israel; and

(3) retaining an independent research firm to identify companies that boycott Israel.

One year thereafter, and every subsequent year on the anniversary of the effective date of this act, the director shall report on all investments sold, redeemed, divested, or withdrawn in compliance with subsection b. of this section. The report shall provide a description of the progress that the division has made since the previous report and since the effective date of this act in implementing subsection b. of this section.

d. The members of the State Investment Council, jointly and individually, and State officers and employees involved therewith, shall be indemnified and held harmless by the State of New Jersey from all claims, demands, suits, actions, damages, judgments, costs, charges, and expenses, including court costs and attorney's fees, and against all liability, losses, and damages that these council members, and State officers and employees, may sustain by reason of any decision to restrict, reduce, or eliminate investments pursuant to this act.

e. As used in this act, "humanitarian aid" means the provision of goods and services intended to relieve human suffering or to promote general welfare and health; "Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions" (BDS) refers to the encouragement of boycotts, divestments and sanctions that place economic and political pressure on states, business entities, and other organizations and institutions to influence their behavior against Israel; "boycott" means engaging in actions that are intended to penalize, inflict economic harm on, or otherwise limit commercial relations with another state or nation; "divestment" means to sell, redeem, or withdraw all holdings of a company from the investment portfolio of another company or of a governmental entity; and "sanctions" means the attempts by national governments, multilateral organizations and other international bodies or their subdivisions to limit or ban trade or other relations with a state or nation.

f. The provisions of this act are severable. If any phrase, clause, sentence, provision or section is declared to be invalid or preempted by federal law or regulation, the validity of the remainder of this act shall not be affected thereby.

L.2016, c.24, s.2.