Visitors to the Illinois statehouse this month will be greeted by all the usual pageantry of the holiday season: Christmas decorations, a nativity scene, a Menorah and a display from the Chicago chapter of the Satanic Temple. Wait, what? Old Ned himself is hanging out in Springfield? Well, no. But a statue of a snake coiled around the arm of a woman grasping an apple is, a representation of the Biblical story of Eve, the Garden of Eden and the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge. As the State Journal-Register reports, the Satanic Temple doesn’t really worship Lucifer, but is rather a group of folks who advocate against what they see as the undue influence of religion on politics. It’s not the first time the group has taken their message to a state Capitol, and guessing by the freak out it generally inspires it likely won’t be the last. 

For the better part of a century the small town of Severance, Colorado has banned the throwing of snowballs. The prohibition was part of a larger ban that made it verboten to throw or shoot rocks or any other projectiles at people, animals, buildings or pretty much anything else. City leaders had always considered snowballs part of such dangerous weaponry. Or it had until a motivated nine-year-old boy named Dane Best recently convinced the town council to drop the ban. Young Dane’s argument that the law was hopelessly outdated resonated with the council, which unanimously voted shortly thereafter to drop snowball prohibition. While Dane was the big winner, he noted his first target is likely to be his younger brother, which makes the younger Best the big loser in all this. 

Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger once famously complained that in the Golden State folks are even taxed for flushing the toilet. While that’s not actually true, state regulators are apparently considering a tax on something almost as ubiquitous: text messaging. As the San Jose Mercury News reports, the California Public Utilities Commission wants to tax texts to raise money to pay for the state’s phone service program for the poor, and they want to make the charges retroactive going back five years! Business groups are lining up to oppose the proposal, but maybe a better plan for opponents would be to make sure everyone under the age of 30 knows about this. It might be one of the few things that will get the young’uns engaged in government. And not in a way the CPUC might like. 

It is the bane of office workers everywhere – the people who hit “reply all” to emails, resulting in a seemingly never-ending chain of replies and pleas to be removed from the list before violence ensues. Just such an event recently occurred in Utah when state Department of Corrections Deputy Director Maria Peterson sent out an email notice of the division’s impending holiday potluck. She believed the message was going to only the 80 or so folks in her division. Alas, as the New York Times reports, a goof up by someone in the technical department sent the message to 22,000 folks, almost the entirety of the state workforce. Oops. They got it all worked out, and Peterson took it all in stride, saying “It happens. What can you do about it but laugh?” 

Well, that and just sit back and enjoy your appearance in the final Once Around the Statehouse Lightly of 2018! Thanks for a great year – Happy New Year and we’ll see you again in 2019!

-- BY RICH EHISEN

Holiday traditions vary. Whether you festoon a Christmas tree with sparkly baubles and tinsel, light a menorah for Hanukkah or tackle feats of strength for Festivus, gift-giving and holiday parties are likely part of your tradition too. But these seasonal celebrations have a dark side—the risk of child labor or forced labor hidden deep in the supply chain.

In fact, according to the Global Slavery Index 2018 by the Walk Free Foundation, one in every 800 people in the U.S. is a victim of forced labor. Moreover, imports are a driving force behind forced labor, with an estimated $144 billion worth of at-risk products imported annually. Many of those at-risk products are part of the holiday season—both in the gifts that are given and received and the hors d’oeuvres at annual gatherings. Even coal is an at-risk product.

With greater awareness into the issue—and a robust due diligence and risk monitoring program in place—companies AND consumers can help bring an end to the corruption that traps people in dangerous, low-paid work situations.

Unwrapping the secrecy behind forced labor

After the Industrial Revolution, child labor was legal—and commonplace—in the United States. Then 80 years ago, the Fair Labor Standard Act made it illegal to employ children under 16 for most jobs and under 18 for dangerous jobs. Today, however, child labor is rife around the globe. The International Labour Organization estimates that 152 million children between 5 and 17 years old are victims of child labor with 73 million engaged in hazardous work.  According to the data:

• 70.9 percent work in Agriculture, which includes farming, fishing, forestry, livestock herding and aquaculture
• 11.9 percent in Industry, which includes mining and manufacturing 
• 17.2 percent in Services, which vary greatly, from street work like shining shoes and selling goods to clearing debris from construction sites