LANSING Mich. (WLNS) – Public service retirees are demanding that Michigan divest from Israel bonds.
The state’s funding board, which handles many public staff’ retirement and pension funds, held a gathering Wednesday the place some individuals, together with public service retirees, mentioned they now not wish to see public worker retirement funds and tax {dollars} funding Israel and its conflict in opposition to Palestine.
A number of organizations had been concerned with these calls for, comparable to Lansing for Palestine and the Lansing Space Peace Training Heart (PEC), they usually requested for a lot of issues, which PEC consultant Anna Martinez-Hume defined.
“To divest from all current Israel bond holdings, commit to non-renewal of any of the bonds upon maturity, one of them matures this year, and commit to not purchasing any new Israel bonds,” Martinez-Hume mentioned.
One other demand of the group is that the board reveals proof of divestment on the April 2025 quarterly assembly agenda.
“The State of Michigan Investment Board’s mandate is to ensure our investment returns lead to a meaningful and comfortable retirement for our teachers, state employees, state police officers and judges. The board values public comment and always dedicates time to hear input from the public on its thoughts on retirement system holdings.”
