NEW YORK, NY February 02, 2007 —Debate in the council about whether city and state pension funds should invest in companies that do business with Sudan. WNYC's Marianne McCune reports.

REPORTER: The city has more than $700 million invested in companies doing business in Sudan; the state about a billion. And Councilmember Eric Gioia says both should do as California has — start selling their shares. Advocates of divestment say political pressure on the Sudanese government to end violence against the people of Darfur has not worked, but economic pressure will.

City Comptroller Bill Thompson says divestment did help in South Africa, but it's not the way to go in Sudan, where it's sometimes difficult to reach the people in need. Instead, the comptroller has sent letters urging companies to use their presence in Sudan to support humanitarian efforts and pressure the government.

THOMPSON: There are so many things we've pushed to do by continuing to hold our shares of stock and being aggressive with those. Divesting is a last resort and we don't think it's appropriate for us right now.

REPORTER: New Jersey and Connecticut are among six states that have passed divestment laws. A spokesman at the state comptroller's office says he won't comment until former comptroller Alan Hevesi is officially replaced. For WNYC, I'm Marianne McCune.