Governors in Brief - December 3 2018

BAKER URGES NEW STEPS FOR REPORTING MA HATE CRIMES

Taking a cue from the recommendations of a state task force, MASSACHUSETTS Gov. Charlie Baker (R) said the Bay State will create a new website to track hate crimes and urged police chiefs to designate at least one officer to coordinate responses to hate crimes in their communities. (BOSTON HERALD, SENTINAL & ENTERPRISE [FITCHBURG])

 

ABBOTT PITCHES TX PROPERTY TAX CAP

TEXAS Gov. Greg Abbott (R) appears set to propose capping annual city and county property tax growth at 2.5 percent. Under the proposal, which his staff emphasized is still a work in progress, a locale where property taxes go up by 6 percent would have to adjust the tax rate to ensure tax revenues collected rise no more than 2.5 percent. (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, SAN ANTONIO NEWS-EXPRESS)

 

REYNOLDS OPEN TO RESTORING IA FELON VOTING RIGHTS

IOWA Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) said she is open to restoring felons’ voting rights as part of broader criminal justice reform in the Hawkeye State. Iowa and KENTUCKY are the only states that currently ban convicted felons from voting unless the governor acts to restore their individual voting rights. Reynolds said she and lawmakers will likely take up the issue next spring. (DES MOINES REGISTER, RADIO IOWA)

 

MN GOV-ELECT SUPPORTS LEGALIZING WEED

Saying “I just think the time is here,” MINNESOTA Gov.-elect Tim Walz (D) said he believes the Gopher State should follow the lead of a growing number of other states and legalize recreational marijuana use. It is not clear if Walz plans to make a formal proposal to lawmakers in the coming year. (ST. PAUL PIONEER-PRESS, KVRR [FARGO])

 

LEPAGE AGAIN SEEKS TO BLOCK ME MEDICAID EXPANSION

Just weeks from the end of his time in office, MAINE Gov. Paul LePage (R) filed an appeal seeking to block a court order to implement voter-approved expansion of the state Medicaid program. Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy ruled on Nov. 21 that the state must move forward with the expansion. Last week’s request for a stay filed by the Department of Health and Human Services claimed the expansion would have “far-reaching negative consequences” on state coffers. The move is likely a delay at best, as Gov.-elect Janet Mills (D) is expected to begin implementation shortly after taking office in January. (PORTLAND PRESS HERALD, BANGOR DAILY NEWS)

 

HOLCOMB JUST SAYS NO TO IN TOLL ROADS

In a letter to lawmakers last week INDIANA Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) said he will not move forward with an earlier plan to toll interstate highways in the Hoosier State. Holcomb said the fuel tax and vehicle registration fee increases approved last year by the Republican-controlled General Assembly are enough to sustain the state’s current road construction efforts. (NORTHWEST INDIANA TIMES [MUNSTER])

 

-- Compiled by RICH EHISEN

Budgets in Brief - January 21 2019

BIG TRANSPORTATION FUNDING PROBLEM IN OH

OHIO has run out of money for major road projects. A coalition of local governments, chambers of commerce, contractors, engineers and truck drivers called Fix Our Roads Ohio has formed to push for solutions to that problem, including increasing the state’s 28-cents-per-gallon gas tax. (COLUMBUS DISPATCH)

 

LA TEACHER STRIKE COSTING MILLIONS PER DAY

Tens of thousands of teachers walked off the job in Los Angeles last week in an effort to reduce class sizes, expand school support staff and boost their pay. With about two thirds of the L.A. Unified School District’s 485,000 students opting not to attend school since the strike began, district officials estimate they are losing $10 million to $15 million a day in state funding, which is based on student attendance. (LOS ANGELES TIMES)

 

LEGISLATIVE LEADERS FOCUSED ON SCHOOL FUNDING IN TX

GOP leaders in the TEXAS House and Senate have both unveiled budget proposals that would significantly increase funding for K-12 public education while capping property tax revenues. But among other things the lawmakers will have to resolve the disparity between the House’s 17.2-percent proposed funding increase and the 10.3 percent increase the Senate plan calls for. (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN)

 

CA TOWN LAUNCHES ‘GOAT FUND ME’ CAMPAIGN TO REDUCE FIRE THREAT

The tiny Northern CALIFORNIA town of Nevada City, with a population of 3,100 and an annual budget of $4 million, has launched a crowdfunding campaign to reduce the threat of wildfires with goats. The city hopes to raise $30,000 from its “Goat Fund Me” campaign for a grazing project on city-owned land. The coastal town of Laguna Beach has used goats to reduce the threat of brush fires there for decades. (LOS ANGELES TIMES)

 

-- Compiled by KOREY CLARK

Confused by Conglomerates? Consider These Three Things When Researching Corporate Ownership.

There is a difference between brand identity and corporate identity but finding the latter may prove to be more difficult than reading the name on a label. While the average consumer in a retail store may not know—or indeed have a desire to know—who owns each product in their shopping cart, there are legitimate reasons why the matter of corporate ownership may become important.

Whether by a series of opportune mergers and acquisitions, the planned purchase of an entire supply chain, or through strategic efforts to saturate a given category, the portfolio of brands a parent company may own can be confusing—if not nearly impossible—to track down.

This can create a challenge for researchers trying to match brands to corporations or a local sales manager to their global c-suite leaders. Consider the difficulty an academic researcher might have evaluating potential conflicts of interest whenever any given funding source could have financial interest in dozens of varying industries. In other cases, one industry behemoth may have acquired most—if not all—of the supply chain. How might a small- or mid-sized competitor evaluate that and engage with potential suppliers without the risk of supporting their primary competition?

Navigating the web of corporate ownership and affiliation can be complex, but there are certain paths to take to find clarity.

Follow the Trail of Reporting

Activities that bring varying brands under new parent company ownership often attract some level of media attention—even smaller acquisitions tend to get listed in local business publications. For much larger companies, however, M&A activity is likely to be covered heavily in local, national and industry-specific news.

Determining the parent company of a certain product or organization can often require looking beyond the current news cycle. A parent company may have made headlines for acquiring a brand a decade ago, but that brand could still operate the same today with little or no mention of its parent entity.

Duracell—the worldwide battery company with headquarters in the United States and Switzerland—is an example of how this happens. While the brand itself has existed continuously since the 1920s, there have been many changes in its ownership that might be hard to track, especially when only evaluating today’s reporting on the company.

The current owner of Duracell, Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., is a clear example of the diverse holdings a single company today may own. Beyond batteries, the company operates in industries as varied as insurance, building materials, food condiments and media outlets. While stories from the time of its acquisition of Duracell provide context to better understand the details of the Berkshire Hathaway transaction, even stories published in highly specific battery-industry trade journals don’t mention the brand’s ownership today.

Don’t Be Fooled by Apparent Competitors

Belgian beverage company Anheuser-Busch InBev has practically stacked the shelves in their favor when it comes to global beer consumption. While beer brand loyalists may feel a competitive rivalry between what they consider domestic or imported, craft or classic, many of these beer brands—as diverse as Budweiser, Corona and Stella Artois—originate from this same parent company.

In fact, owning seemingly competing products in the same category isn’t all that uncommon. U.S.-based Proctor and Gamble owns two diaper brands, at least four fabric detergents, multiple shampoos and several competing detergents and cleaners… among many others. This is an “illusion of choice” that often goes unnoticed by consumers.

For researchers, the challenge comes from finding quality source materials that bypass branding in favor of data.

Use Resources to Help Connect the Chain of Ownership

Researching corporate ownership may feel a lot like genealogy and following the trail of corporate affiliation can certainly branch out like a family tree. One brand’s parent company can have another parent company that is held by yet another organization on top of that. This can go on for many “generations,” and can potentially complicate research. Especially as partially owned companies, sister companies and joint partnerships come into play, bypassing information geared toward consumers and looking at more direct industry filings can prevent research from being derailed by chaos.

The information exists, but finding it can be difficult. Public financial records, regulatory disclosures, press releases and investor reports all disclose information that—when analyzed together—can help determine corporate affiliations. Additionally, researching executive and board staffing can provide hints to corporate affiliations as well. While many legal entities can exist in the chain of corporate ownership, because they have unified operations, they will often have the same people in positions like chief executive or chairperson.

Using research tools that bring these information sources together can help make the corporate ownership research process less manual than mapping out an entire corporate tree and scouring company biographies and announcements.

Janus Ruling Not Hurting Union Membership

In June the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Janus v. AFSCME that unions could no longer require public workers who choose not to join a union to pay union fees even if they benefit from union efforts.

 

That ruling has adversely impacted union finances. For example, in Pennsylvania, unions had to refund about 15 percent of the $42.5 million in union fees they collected from nonmembers and executive branch members last year.

 

But the Janus ruling hasn’t led to the mass defections some had predicted. And in some unions, membership has actually increased since the verdict.

 

At the time of the ruling, 50,072 state executive branch employees in Pennsylvania were union members. Now 51,127 are members. New union memberships have outnumbered defections in Oregon’s Local 503 chapter of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) by a margin of three to two. And membership in the Chicago chapter of SEIU has increased from 23,800 members to 26,000 since August 2017.

 

“I think the right wing thought this would decimate public-sector unions, and they were clearly wrong,” said Kim Cook of the Cornell University Worker Institute, which supports union and worker rights.

 

One reason union membership hasn’t dropped is because unions stepped up their efforts to attract new members even before the Janus decision. Democratically controlled states have also recently taken actions to bolster union membership. For instance, New Jersey, limited the period of time during which public workers can leave their union. And New Jersey, California and Washington have prohibited public employers from discouraging union membership.

 

But Ken Girardin, an analyst for the fiscally conservative Empire Center for Public Policy in New York, said significant membership declines will be coming in the next few years.

 

“Based on what we’ve observed, you will likely see a multi-year drop in membership, driven chiefly by the fact that people aren’t going to join in the first place,” he said. “The next cohorts of employees won’t join at the same rate as the retirees they are replacing.” (GOVERNING)

Suicides Up Significantly In Many States

Between 2007 and 2012, the number of annual suicide deaths rose by more than 30 percent in eight states, according to analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by Governing. The largest increase, 69.3 percent, was in Wyoming, which was also the state with the highest suicide rate in 2012, at 29.6 suicides per 100,000 residents. Suicide deaths also increased by less than 10 percent in eight states, including Vermont and Wisconsin, where the suicide rate dropped by 2.2 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.

 

Source: Governing, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

 

Legend:

 

States with largest increase in suicide rate between 2007 and 2012: Wyoming, Utah, South Dakota, Kansas, Idaho, Hawaii, Delaware, Connecticut

 

States with smallest increase: Vermont, California, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Wisconsin