A Texas legislator warned Citigroup on Friday that he would introduce a invoice to stop the financial institution from underwriting municipal bonds within the state except it rescinded its coverage overlaying journey bills for workers who go exterior their state to hunt an abortion.
State Consultant Briscoe Cain, a Republican from the Houston space, wrote on Fb and Twitter that the invoice would bar native governments from doing enterprise with any firm “that pays abortion-related bills of its workers or that gives abortion protection as an worker profit.” He mentioned he had despatched a cease-and-desist letter to Citigroup’s chief government, Jane Fraser, calling the coverage a “misuse of shareholder cash.”
Citigroup stated in a filing on Tuesday that it could present journey advantages to workers searching for abortions exterior their state, “in response to adjustments in reproductive well being care legal guidelines in sure states.” Final 12 months, Texas enacted a legislation that bans abortion after about six weeks of being pregnant. The legislation took impact in September.
Citigroup has 8,500 workers in Texas. Different firms, together with Salesforce and Uber, have additionally introduced insurance policies in opposition to the abortion legislation.
Mr. Cain additionally vowed to suggest laws that, if handed, would authorize district attorneys from anyplace within the state to prosecute an organization that violated the abortion legislation if the native district lawyer didn’t take motion.
Representatives of Citigroup couldn’t be reached for remark Friday evening.
