The recently proposed Sudan divestment bill may cost Wisconsin taxpayers and retired public employees nearly half a billion dollars, according to State of Wisconsin Investment Board Director David Mills.
According to Mills, the bill would place a financial burden on Wisconsin residents. If it passes, he estimates the state could lose $440 million in investments.
Proponents of the divestment bill challenge the validity of Mills' estimate.
According to the Capital Times, Mills maintains that Wisconsin's investments do not directly contribute to the rape, murder and mutilation going on in Darfur. Still, state Rep. Fred Kessler, D-Milwaukee, a strong supporter of the bill, says he can prove otherwise.
Kessler said Wisconsin is invested in firms, specifically Chinese oil companies, that invest a portion of their loyalties to the Sudanese national government.
The U.S. federal government—in consensus with the United Nations—has accused Sudan of backing the genocide in Darfur through these means.
In a Wednesday hearing on the issue, Dr. Sarah Peck, a business professor at Marquette University and trustee of the Milwaukee County Pension Board, also presented doubts of the origin of the $440 million loss estimate.
According to Kessler, Peck went through and ""point by point destroyed"" Mills' $440 million figure.
Peck said her initial investigations into Mills' estimates found no sources linked to Mills' findings. After the passage of the open records law, the Sudan Divesting Task Force had to let people look at its records, according to Peck.
""I found a page that indicated those numbers are tracking errors and that's when I suddenly went ‘Oh, that's what they're doing,'"" she said. According to Peck, Mills' numbers were incorrectly interpreted.
Mills did not return a phone call to comment on the matter.
Peck also voiced concern over the testimony given by retirees who expressed apprehensions about the security of their retirement money.
""It's terrible that they have to experience unnecessary anxiety caused by the [inaccurate] $440 million figure that SWIB had provided to them,"" he said.
Peck said the costs provided by the SWIB are overstated, while ""the clear benefit of saving lives is immeasurable.""
