Legislation proposed last month would prohibit the Thrift Savings Plan from investing in any securities of an entity based in Russia.
If passed, the Terminating Securities from Putin (TSP) Act, introduced by Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC), would bar the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board from establishing any funds within the TSP that would include an investment of an entity based in Russia.
According to Budd, in 2017 the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, which administers the TSP, planned to shift the International Stock Index Investment Fund (I-Fund) to the MSCI ACWI ex USA Investment Market Index, which includes Russian investments.
This change was ultimately postponed by the Trump administration. Currently, there is no federal prohibition to ensure that the TSP continues to stay divested from Russia.
“Members of our military and federal workforce should not have to wonder whether or not their retirement investments are coming from Vladimir Putin’s Russia,” Budd said in a statement. “I’m proud to introduce legislation that draws a line in the sand and provides moral assurances to 6 million members of the military and the federal workforce.”
According to Federal News Network on March 25, the TSP Board took action to confirm that there were no Russian investments after Budd proposed the legislation. “The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board….said it analyzed its investments in response to the legislation and concluded that no TSP funds contain Russian investments,” wrote Federal News Network.
“Members of our military and federal workforce should not have to wonder whether or not their retirement investments are coming from Vladimir Putin’s Russia, and I’m glad to see that my bill spurred on this confirmation that there are no Russian investments at this time,” Rep. Budd said in response to the TSP Board’s review.
The full text of the proposed bill can be read here.