II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1460 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for an investment option 

under the Thrift Savings Plan that does not include investment in 

any fossil fuel companies. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 14, 2019 

Mr. MERKLEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for an 

investment option under the Thrift Savings Plan that 

does not include investment in any fossil fuel companies. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Retirement Invest5 ments for a Sustainable Economy Act of 2019’’ or the 

6 ‘‘RISE Act of 2019’’. 

7 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

8 It is the sense of Congress that— 


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1 (1) continued inaction by the Federal Govern2 ment with respect to addressing climate change 

3 poses a significant threat to the growth and stability 

4 of the economy and population of the United States; 

5 (2) pension and retirement funds are vulnerable 

6 to distinct risks relating to climate change, includ7 ing— 

8 (A) climate impact risks, including sea 

9 level rise, heat waves, desertification, ocean aci10 dification, flooding, drought, extreme weather, 

11 and wildfires; 

12 (B) carbon-constrained demand risks, in13 cluding stranded carbon assets, which financial 

14 institutions have estimated as having a value of 

15 $100,000,000,000,000; and 

16 (C) climate liability risks, including from 

17 evolving interpretations of fiduciary and tor18 tious duties of care; and 

19 (3) assessing the potential impact of climate-re20 lated risks on national and international financial 

21 systems, including retirement savings accounts and 

22 pensions, is an urgent concern. 

23 SEC. 3. CLIMATE CHOICE STOCK INDEX FUND. 

24 Section 8438 of title 5, United States Code, is 

25 amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a)— 

2 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (4) 

3 through (10) as paragraphs (7) through (13), 

4 respectively; 

5 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), 

6 and (3) as paragraphs (2), (4), and (5), respec7 tively; 

8 (C) by inserting before paragraph (2), as 

9 so redesignated, the following: 

10 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Climate Choice Stock Index 

11 Fund’ means the Climate Choice Stock Index Fund 

12 established under subsection (b)(1)(G);’’; 

13 (D) by inserting after paragraph (2), as so 

14 redesignated, the following: 

15 ‘‘(3) the term ‘entity’ means any sole propri16 etorship, organization, association, corporation, part17 nership, joint venture, limited partnership, limited li18 ability partnership, limited liability company, or 

19 other business association, including any wholly 

20 owned subsidiary, majority-owned subsidiary, par21 ent-country national, or affiliate of the business as22 sociation, that exists for the purpose of making prof23 it;’’; and 

24 (E) by inserting after paragraph (5), as so 

25 redesignated, the following: 


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1 ‘‘(6) the term ‘fossil fuel entity’ means any en2 tity— 

3 ‘‘(A) with proven carbon reserves; or 

4 ‘‘(B) that explores for, extracts, processes, 

5 refines, or transmits coal, oil, gas, oil shale, or 

6 tar sands;’’; and 

7 (2) in subsection (b)— 

8 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

9 (i) in subparagraph (E), by striking 

10 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

11 (ii) in subparagraph (F), by striking 

12 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

13 and’’; and 

14 (iii) by adding at the end the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(G) a Climate Choice Stock Index Fund 

17 as provided in paragraph (6).’’; and 

18 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(6)(A) The Board shall select an index which 

20 is a commonly recognized index comprised of com21 mon stock. 

22 ‘‘(B) The historical performance of the index 

23 selected under subparagraph (A) shall be comparable 

24 to that of the other investment funds and options 

25 available under this subsection. 


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1 ‘‘(C) The Climate Choice Stock Index Fund 

2 shall be invested in a portfolio that is designed— 

3 ‘‘(i) to replicate the performance of the 

4 index selected under subparagraph (A); 

5 ‘‘(ii) such that, to the extent practicable, 

6 the percentage of the Climate Choice Stock 

7 Index Fund that is invested in each stock is the 

8 same as the percentage determined by dividing 

9 the aggregate market value of all shares of that 

10 stock by the aggregate market value of all 

11 shares of all stocks included in the index se12 lected under subparagraph (A); and 

13 ‘‘(iii) to ensure that no investment in the 

14 portfolio is an investment with respect to a fos15 sil fuel entity.’’. 

Æ 


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