Lawmakers push bill banning state from investing in Venezuela

A sign with a message that reads in Spanish: "Maduro is hunger!" is attached to a cable forming part of a barricade made by demonstrators during a 48-hour general strike beginning Wednesday in protest of government plans to rewrite the constitution in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, July 26, 2017. Streets were quiet Wednesday morning in much of the capital, Caracas, as many residents stayed home in observance of the strike. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

In a further attempt to starve President Nicolas Maduro’s government from money, state lawmakers want to make sure state agencies are barred from investing on companies that do business with Venezuela.

“We cannot as a state and should not prop up the Maduro regime, which inflicts misery upon its people,” state Rep. Jeannette Nunez, a Miami Republican, said.

The bill (HB 359) filed by Nunez and Rep. Manny Diaz Jr., a Republican from Hialeah, would turn a resolution passed by Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet in August into state law.

The resolution says the state should prohibit state investment managers to use state money to invest in companies controlled by the government of Venezuela.

Under the bill, sanctions could be waived if there is a “collapse of the government or if there is a humanitarian crisis or need for immediate aid to Venezuela,” Nunez said.

The measure cleared the House Oversight, Transparency & Administration Subcommittee unanimously, with no debate. The bill has two more committee stops before it can be considered in the House floor.