The state of Florida just lost $200 million from its pension fund. Why? Because Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) failed to divest from assets tied to Russian companies.
Democratic Rep. Andrew Learned blew the whistle on the massive loss of revenue from the Florida pension fund. He and other Democrats in the state legislature had urged DeSantis and his allies to divest from Russian businesses, but were ignored. That turned out to be a gigantic mistake.
In late March, DeSantis was warned that keeping state money in funds tied to Russia was a potentially disastrous move, but the governor chose to attack President Joe Biden rather than do what was best for his state:
DeSantis, who has chimed in on many foreign policy issues during his tenure, ranging from Israel to China to Latin America, did make some comments early on about the Russian invasion and made a few critiques of Vladimir Putin. Florida’s GOP governor has also criticized President Joe Biden over approaching Venezuela for oil during the crisis — and faulted him on Sunday for “using emergency war powers to produce batteries for the 1% that drive electric cars.”
The Florida state retirement system is one of the largest in the United State, with a base of over 1 million public employees. While the state State Board of Administration technically administers the pension fund, DeSantis is the chairman, meaning nothing can be done without his approval.
Much like his onetime political idol, Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis is a terrible steward of public funds. For that alone he deserves to lose his bid for reelection this November.
