Dear Colleagues,

Please find attached and below an Investor Letter on Texas Senate Bill 6 (SB6) and any forthcoming anti-LGBT legislation in Texas.

Trillium Asset Management and New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer invite investors to sign onto this letter by February 3rd, which is tentatively set to be made public the week of February 13.

Earlier this month Texas Lieutenant Governor Patrick introduced SB6, which would prevent transgender people from using restrooms in public schools, universities, and government buildings that are consistent with their gender identity. Further, SB6 would eliminate any municipal non-discrimination ordinances for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people – eerily similar to North Carolina’s House Bill 2.

Having witnessed the costly and disruptive nature of HB2 to the North Carolina business environment, we believe it is prudent to share investors’ concern. As long-term investors in companies doing business in Texas, we are concerned that any form of legislation which allows or facilitates LGBT discrimination will make it difficult for our portfolio companies to provide the safe, open, and inclusive environment in Texas necessary for a successful workplace.

According to research conducted by the Texas Association of Business, the state could face losses of up to $8.5 billion (or 0.5% of its GDP) and job losses as high as 185,000, if discriminatory measures like SB6 become law. This type of legislation directly undermines the strong business minded environment in Texas.

This letter is intended to demonstrate strong investor opposition to SB 6 and any bills that limit the rights of LGBT people in Texas. We believe that it also sets the stage for subsequent opposition to legislation that has already been or will soon be introduced in other states across the country.

Sign-on details:
• Deadline for joining is Friday, February 3, 2017.
• We are collecting organizational names and/or individual names as representatives of those organizations.
• We are collecting AUM information for aggregation purposes only - it will be kept confidential.
• Please email the above to Brianna Murphy at bmurphy@trilliuminvest.com or use this form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc3htSkZJbhd3YkskCgBkPtrYt-CKpKVJBLt578Cwn6LMWXaw/viewform

If you have any questions, please contact:

Michael Garland, New York City Comptroller’s Office - mgarlan@comptroller.nyc.gov

Jonas Kron, Trillium Asset Management – jkron@trilliuminvest.com

	MICHAEL GARLAND
	Assistant Comptroller - Corporate Governance and Responsible Investment
	Office of New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer, Bureau of Asset Management
	1 Centre Street, 8^th Floor North, New York, NY 10007
	Office: 212-669-2517 \| Fax: 212-669-4072 \| Email: mgarlan@comptroller.nyc.gov

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