Some states want to sanction Russia over Ukraine despite legal barriers and dubious impact; more about 'moral weight'

A New York protest (Associated Press photo by Seth Wennig)

State officials in both parties, "outraged by the Russian invasion of Ukraine ... are seeking to impose economic sanctions of their own" despite legal barriers, Stateline's Sophie Quinton reports.

"Governors in at least 11 states—Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, North Dakota, New York and Virginia—are pushing state entities to review or cut financial ties with Russian companies," Quinton writes.

"Lawmakers in at least seven states—California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina and West Virginia—have proposed divestment bills. Some state agencies have announced plans to cut ties with Russian businesses. And the governors of at least a dozen states have issued executive orders or sent letters to liquor regulators and state-run stores to stop sales of Russian vodka and other spirits."

Courts have ruled state sanctions against other nations are pre-empted by federal law, Quinton reports, so "The wave of state sanctions likely will be more symbolic than substantive, experts say." Also, "State pension funds and state agencies aren’t deeply dependent on Russian companies. Russian goods aren’t a major presence on U.S. store shelves."

But state sanctions have value as symbols that “reinforce what’s happening at the national level,” Gary Hufbauer, a nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told Quinton. “It does add moral weight. And that’s important.”