Members of the joint committee have endorsed a plan sponsored by Rep. Julie Fisher, R-Fruit Heights, that would ensure that none of the Utah State Retirement System's nearly $20 billion in assets are invested in foreign companies that do business in Iran.

U.S. companies are already prohibited from doing business in the Persian nation, but public money can be funneled to businesses there through international investments held by pension programs. The proposed bill is similar to one California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed last month.

The committee's approval - which generally gives momentum to a bill going into the lawmaking session - came Tuesday evening over the spoken hesitation of Utah State Retirement Systems counsel Dan Anderson.

Though he conceded that his objections would not be popular, Anderson said that divestiture has not been established to be effective and can be counterproductive to State Department efforts to "speak with one voice" on matters of foreign policy. Moreover, he said, Fisher's bill "is not going to have any effect on what happens in Iran . . . it's not going to slow the flow of weapons from Iran to Iraq."

But although he first expressed some reluctance about possible unintended consequences of Fisher's bill, Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, stood to its defense.

"We get bound up here all the time on 'we don't understand this,' '' Buttars said in response to a call by Sen. Carlene Walker, R-Cottonwood Heights, for a more complete analysis of the bill before the committee's endorsement. "Well, there's a lot of things we vote on that we don't understand, but I would rather stand on the principle of 'let's go for it.' ''

The debate shortly descended into a clash over national loyalty after Buttars called for votes to be registered in a roll call.

"Is that to determine our patriotism, senator?" Walker asked.

"Well, if you're going to go there, I guess it is, senator," Buttars replied.

Fisher's bill ultimately passed over the objections of Walker and Rep. Neil Hansen, D-Ogden, but committee members noted that many questions would need to be answered before the full Legislature could be expected to vote.

mlaplante@sltrib.com

Questions

Sticky issues in the bill banning Utah pension funds in Iranian businesses:

* Though some advocates of divestment strategy call for the elimination of investments in any nation deemed to be a state sponsor of terrorism - Iran, Syria, Sudan and North Korean are most often mentioned - Fisher's proposed legislation would target only Iran.

* The bill exempts the divestments of any funds that would be made at a loss - a criterion some committee members found lacking in moral commitment to the principle.

* Federal courts have a history of striking down laws passed by state legislatures trying to direct the overseas investments of their pension funds, Anderson said. He said it was too early to say whether Fisher's proposed law might be challenged.