{"id":4155,"date":"2023-11-02T18:41:10","date_gmt":"2023-11-02T22:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/amid-war-in-israel-florida-lawmakers-propose-blacklisting-companies-with-iran-business\/02\/11\/2023\/"},"modified":"2023-11-02T18:41:10","modified_gmt":"2023-11-02T22:41:10","slug":"amid-war-in-israel-florida-lawmakers-propose-blacklisting-companies-with-iran-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/amid-war-in-israel-florida-lawmakers-propose-blacklisting-companies-with-iran-business\/02\/11\/2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Amid war in Israel, Florida lawmakers propose blacklisting companies with Iran business"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Florida lawmakers filed legislation on Thursday that would discourage businesses in the state from dealing with Iran, proposing a broad blacklist of companies that have business ties in the country in light of Hamas\u2019 attack on Israel last month.<\/p>\n<p>Gov. <button class=\"caas-xray-inline caas-xray-entity caas-xray-pill\" data-ylk=\"cid:Ron_DeSantis;pos:1;elmt:wiki;sec:pill-inline-entity;elm:pill-inline-text;itc:1;cat:OfficeHolder;\" data-entity-id=\"Ron_DeSantis\">Ron DeSantis<\/button> in recent days encouraged state lawmakers to draft the legislation ahead of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/news\/politics-government\/state-politics\/article280775205.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:next week\u2019s special session;elm:context_link;itc:0\" class=\"link \">next week\u2019s special session<\/a> in Tallahassee, an initiative his presidential campaign has promoted as an example of his leadership.<\/p>\n<p>But at least one independent expert says the broad language of the bill could cause more harm than good to Florida businesses, whose banks and shipping companies could refuse to work with them on the mere risk of being stigmatized by the new blacklist policy.<\/p>\n<p>The proposed legislation would require the State Board of Administration to create a new list, titled the \u201cScrutinized Companies with Activities in Iran Terrorism Sectors List,\u201d by January, to identify Florida companies that meet the state\u2019s new, expanded criteria for business dealings with Iran. It would prohibit public entities in Florida from making contracts worth $1 million or more with blacklisted companies, and prevent state pension funds from being invested in companies linked to Iran.<\/p>\n<p>The proposed changes would open up a longstanding Florida statute that also deals with blacklisted companies in Sudan.<\/p>\n<p>That could lead institutions such as banks and shipping companies to refuse dealings with companies like travel agents, booksellers, pharmaceutical companies, and food wholesalers who in turn work with companies in Iran or Sudan, \u201ceven though those activities are clearly permitted by U.S. law,\u201d said Patrick Clawson, director of the Viterbi Program on Iran and U.S. Policy at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA potent instrument for convincing companies to stay away from business dealings with a given entity is to raise the risk of reputational damage,\u201d Clawson said. But \u201cthe effect of such legislation could then be to impede educational and religious activities with Iran and Sudan, as well as commerce in foods and medicines, even though that the law may not target such activities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It remains unclear how many Florida businesses would be impacted by the proposed measure. The proposal\u2019s reach is still being calculated, said Republican state Rep. John Snyder, the sponsor of the House bill.<\/p>\n<p>But the goal would be to prevent state funds from being invested in companies that either directly or indirectly do business with \u201cevery sector of the Iranian economy,\u201d Snyder explained.<\/p>\n<p><b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/news\/politics-government\/article280341619.html#storylink=cpy\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:READ MORE: DeSantis says Iran culpable in attack on Israel, proposes new Florida sanctions;elm:context_link;itc:0\" class=\"link \">READ MORE: DeSantis says Iran culpable in attack on Israel, proposes new Florida sanctions<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf a private business wants to do business with the government of Iran, as long as they\u2019re not violating federal statute, we can\u2019t tell them they can\u2019t do that,\u201d Snyder said. \u201cBut what we can tell them is that you\u2019re not allowed to contract with the state of Florida or be a part of our investment portfolio.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The proposed sanctions emerged in the wake of Hamas\u2019 attack last month that killed over 1,400 Israeli men, women and children. Israel has retaliated with a broad air campaign and ground invasion of the Gaza Strip that has taken the lives of thousands of Palestinians, according to Hamas\u2019 health ministry.<\/p>\n<p>The United States and European Union have designated Hamas a terrorist organization.<\/p>\n<p>Iran is a longtime benefactor of Hamas, supplying the organization with military support. But the country\u2019s role in the Oct. 7 attack is unclear. Officials in Tehran have denied involvement in the attack, but have praised Hamas. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said the United States has so far found no evidence Iran was directly involved but has characterized Tehran as \u201ccomplicit\u201d in the attack due to its ongoing support for the group.<\/p>\n<p>Despite hesitancy from U.S. intelligence, DeSantis has zeroed in on Iran as a way to show support for Israel. He has called Iran a \u201cclearinghouse for terrorist funding in the region\u201d and vowed to sign the \u201cstrongest sanctions against Iran by any state in the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The governor did not reveal anything specific about his plan for sanctions. And it is not yet known how involved his office was with the drafting of the proposed measures.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Bryan Avila, a Miami Springs Republican sponsoring the Senate bill, said the measure \u201csends a strong message that the state of Florida will not do business with countries that finance terrorism.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To make it onto the state\u2019s list of \u201ccompanies with activities in Iran,\u201d the company would need to have more than 10% of its total revenue or assets linked to Iran or have an investment of $20 million or more in oil-related or mineral-extraction activities in the Middle Eastern country.<\/p>\n<p>Rug and clothing businesses that export their product from Iran, jewel and precious metal dealers, financial entities that are based in Iran, and shipping businesses that fly the flag of Iran or that are operated indirectly by the government of Iran would be impacted by the new requirements, according to the bill language.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPublished lists of entities described as supporting terrorism is certainly a way to press Florida companies not to deal with those entities,\u201d Clawson said, noting that the approach could prompt companies to err on the side of caution out of concern of having their reputation tarnished by association.<\/p>\n<p>While the proposed legislation would prevent a public entity from contracting with a scrutinized company, the <a href=\"https:\/\/myfloridahouse.gov\/Sections\/Documents\/loaddoc.aspx?FileName=h0005C.SAC.DOCX&amp;DocumentType=Analysis&amp;BillNumber=0005C&amp;Session=2023C:\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:staff analysis of the bill;elm:context_link;itc:0\" class=\"link \">staff analysis of the bill<\/a> says \u201can agency or a local governmental entity may permit a company on the Iran Terrorism List to bid on a contract if the goods or services cannot be obtained elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The proposal could also raise constitutional questions because the federal government, not states, are in charge of foreign affairs issues, according to the staff analysis.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs such, state laws relating to foreign affairs may be unconstitutional, even if not preempted by a federal treaty or statute, if the state\u2019s policy potentially disturbs foreign relations,\u201d the analysis states.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/amid-war-israel-florida-lawmakers-213814813.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Florida lawmakers filed legislation on Thursday that would discourage businesses in the state from dealing with Iran, proposing a broad blacklist of<br \/><button class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/amid-war-in-israel-florida-lawmakers-propose-blacklisting-companies-with-iran-business\/02\/11\/2023\/\">Read More &rsaquo;<\/a><\/button><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4155"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}