War on woke hits muni bond market as Florida lawmakers eye ESG curbs

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Rating agencies came under fire in the legislation for using ESG in their analyses.

In December, Renner wrote the three credit rating agencies which rate Florida's debt demanding they "drop the politics and return to objective, financial criteria, universally recognized to measure a state's credit rating."

Renner said the same ideologies that have "pushed indoctrination at the expense of education" have also co-opted Wall Street with political demands branded under the ESG umbrella.

Florida's general obligation bonds are already gilt-edged, holding triple-A ratings from Moody's Investors Service, S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings.

Cumberland Advisors President and CEO John Mousseau said ratings were an important investor tool.

"We can't possibly emphasize enough how misguided and unfortunate this stance is," Mousseau wrote. "Cumberland Advisors, like many other money managers, relies on bond ratings from rating agencies such as Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch in evaluating bonds for purchase or sale in our clients' portfolios. The rating agencies are relied upon not only by money managers like us but also by financial consultants, individuals, as well as institutional investors, and of course by issuers."

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