In New Hampshire, the House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee has taken a couple of sniffs at bills to curb ESG, but has not taken a bite.

In 2021, Rep J.D. Bernardy, R-South Hampton, introduced House Bill 1469, which wound up creating a study committee that failed to report. He returned this year with HB 227, which would prohibit financial institutions from denying services to any qualified person or entity “based on nontraditional criteria.”

When the committee heard the bill on Feb. 1, Bernardy explained its purpose was to ensure ESG factors would not play into lending and investment decisions in the state, which should not be subject to “non-financial criteria.”

“Government,” he said, “should not dictate what the private sector can invest in.”

In an encore of her performance a year ago, Kristy Merrill, president of the NH Bankers Association, expressed “strong opposition” to the measure saying it would “turn fair lending on its head,” “lead to frivolous lawsuits” and “increase the cost of financial services.“

She said she was not aware of any New Hampshire banks using ESG criteria.

Bank Commissioner Emelia Galdieri said that, while the department had no opinion on the bill, “practically speaking, it is unenforceable,” since the institutions engaged in this type of lending are national banks subject to federal not state regulation.

“We have not received any complaints of discrimination,” she said, “and have no evidence of banks using ESG scoring.”

— MICHAEL KITCH