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Smiley Urges Providence Voters to Reject Divestment Question 7

By Drooid · Oct 29, 2026 · How we work

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Summary

Mayor Brett Smiley urges Providence voters to reject Question 7, the proposed divestment ordinance.
Question 7 would require divesting from entities profiting from genocide, apartheid, or occupation.
Opponents such as the Rhode Island–Israel Collaborative warn the ordinance could trigger lawsuits.
Providence’s $700 million pension fund, covering $1.85 billion liabilities, could face lower returns and higher costs.
COO Courtney Hawkins warns the ordinance’s broad language may limit investments and increase legal fees.

History

New York’s 2014 Anti-Genocide Investment Act follows a lineage of anti-discrimination measures, from the 1945 Ives–Quinn Act—signed by Governor Thomas E. Dewey as the nation’s broadest race-and-religion-bias ban—to recent spikes in hate crimes that prompted the 2023 ADL report of a 337% rise in antisemitic incidents after the Hamas attack. Providence’s Question 7 mirrors this pattern, seeking to pull $700 million from apartheid-linked firms.

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New York’s 2014 Anti-Genocide Investment Act follows a lineage of anti-discrimination measures, from the 1945 Ives–Quinn Act—signed by Governor Thomas E. Dewey as the nation’s broadest race-and-religion-bias ban—to recent spikes in hate crimes that prompted the 2023 ADL report of a 337% rise in antisemitic incidents after the Hamas attack. Providence’s Question 7 mirrors this pattern, seeking to pull $700 million from apartheid-linked firms.

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