John Murante – State Financial Officers Foundation

About

John Murante is the director of the Nebraska Public Employees Retirement Board, which oversees the agency that administers the state’s retirement plans. He served as Nebraska’s state treasurer from 2019 through October 2023. In 2022, Murante served as national chair of the State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF).

Murante was a Nebraska state senator from 2013–19 and was a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council during that period.

As a state senator, Murante also served as the chair of the National Conference of State Legislatures Elections and Redistricting Standing Committee, and on the advisory committee to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.

During his most recent run for treasurer, Murante told voters that he had repeatedly “proven [his] conservative credentials,” saying, “I have fought for voter ID to make sure not a single illegal vote is cast in Nebraska despite fierce opposition from the Democrats and liberal media. I opposed tax increases and have fought for tax relief. I have led the fight on pro-life issues, most recently to guarantee tax dollars will not go to organizations like Planned Parenthood that perform abortions.”

Actions

Signed an Advancing American Freedom coalition letter to U.S. House leaders demanding that “The Woke 401(k) Rule Must Be Repealed” (3/28/23)
Testified in favor of LB 67, a bill seeking to prevent the treasurer from depositing state funds in accounts “used by financial institutions for social or political causes or objectives” (1/30/23)
Presented “Straight Talk” with Stephen Soukup, author of The Dictatorship of Woke Capital: How Political Correctness Captured Big Business, at the SFOF Fall National Meeting (11/14/22)
Spoke on an SFOF-sponsored panel titled “Everything States Should Know About the Dangers of ESG” with SFOF CEO Derek Kreifels and Kentucky Treasurer Allison Ball at the 2022 Annual Meeting of the State Policy Network (9/19–22/22)
Signed a letter to Morningstar asking the company to stop its negative ratings of firms connected to Israel (8/25/22)
Participated in ESG Coalition calls organized by CRC Advisors (6/22/22)
Signed a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) opposing the proposed rule known as the Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors (6/17/22)
Signed an SFOF letter opposing the FDIC proposed principles on climate-related financial risk management for large financial institutions (6/3/22)
Spoke on a panel titled “Taking on the ESG Overlords” at The Heritage Foundation 2022 Resource Bank meeting moderated by Andy Olivastro, vice president of outreach at Heritage, with Will Hild, executive director, Consumers’ Research; Andy Puzder, senior fellow, Heritage Foundation; and Vivek Ramaswamy, founder and executive chairman, Strive Asset Management. During the discussion, Murante said, “I really think ESG is going to be the [critical race theory] of 2023 and 2024…. When people find out about it, they are going to be absolutely livid.” (6/1/22)
Signed a letter to the Department of Labor opposing possible agency actions to protect life savings and pensions from threats of climate-related financial risk (5/16/22)
Signed a comment letter to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board regarding ESG practices in the municipal securities market (3/8/22)
Hosted a panel discussion at the 2022 SFOF National Meeting titled “China Discussion: Why Should We Be Concerned,” with Vivek Ramaswamy, founder and executive chairman, Strive Asset Management, and Peter Schweizer, author of Red Handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win (2/16/22)
Signed a letter opposing the proposed Department of Labor rule change entitled Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights (12/13/21)
Signed letter to banking industry warning that state financial officers “will be taking collective action in response to the ongoing and growing economic boycott of traditional energy production industries by U.S. financial institutions.” (11/22/21)
Signed letter to John Kerry expressing “deep concern with recent reports” that the Biden administration is “privately pressuring U.S. banks and financial institutions to refuse to lend to or invest in coal, oil, and natural gas companies.” (5/25/21)
Signed an SFOF letter urging President Biden to withdraw his nomination of Sarah Bloom Raskin as vice chair for supervision at the Federal Reserve based on her “radical banking and economic views,” which they claimed would “disrupt the private banking sector, reliable energy supplies, and the U.S. economy” (1/31/21)
Accepted the 2019 SFOF Newcomer of the Year Award (2019)

Recent Campaign Filings

Statements of Financial Interests

Contact Information

Nebraska State Treasurer
State Capitol, Third Floor
P.O. Box 94788
Lincoln, NE 68509-4788
Website: treasurer.nebraska.gov/
Phone: (402) 471-2455
Email: NA