Conventional wisdom holds that cities need population growth to be economically healthy. But between 2000 and 2016 per-capita income in Pittsburgh rose 24 percent - well over the national average of 18 percent - while the city’s population shrunk by 4 percent, roughly 95,000 people. Similar trends have been seen in Davenport, Iowa; Springfield, Massachusetts; Buffalo, New York; Providence, Rhode Island; Beaumont, Texas; and New Orleans, Louisiana.
One of the keys to these cities’ successful decoupling of population and income is high-paying jobs in energy, health care and education. STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) jobs make up about 7 percent of all jobs available in Pittsburgh and about 5 percent of the job markets in Davenport, Buffalo and Providence.
But Anthony Carnevale, director of the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, cautions that some of those jobs could disappear if the population shrinks too much.
“If you go through small towns, you’ll always see that the one with the hospital has some good jobs,” he said. “But if the population is too elderly and rural — that’s just one generation burying the last. It’s not sustainable. There’s going to be some consolidation of health care, I think, into more urban areas.” (STATELINE)
Congress has passed and President Trump is expected to sign an $867 billion farm bill that, among other things, will expand subsidies for farmers, provide permanent funding for local farmers markets and legalize hemp. The bill had bipartisan support in both chambers, due in part to pressure from farmers who have faced sharp declines in commodities prices as a result of President Trump’s trade dispute with China.
“The passage of the 2019 Farm Bill is good news because it provides a strong safety net for farmers and ranchers, who need the dependability and certainty this legislation affords,” Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said in a statement.
The bill had some critics, including Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), one of two farmers in the Senate and a member of that chamber’s Agriculture Committee, who voted against the legislation because of its expansion of subsidies to more-distant relatives of farmers, like cousins, nephews and nieces.
“I’m very disappointed the conferees decided to expand the loopholes on farm subsidies,” he said before the vote. “I’ve been trying to make sure the people who get the subsidies are real farmers.... I’ve been trying for three years, and it gets worse and worse and worse.” (WASHINGTON POST)
Clearing away the debris from the 19,000 homes and businesses destroyed by last month’s wildfires could cost CALIFORNIA at least $3 billion, according to state and federal authorities. That sum is more than double the state’s record wildfire cleanup expense last year of $1.3 billion. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
RHODE ISLAND is suing Alphabet, the parent company of Google, for failing to disclose a security breach affecting 52.5 million Google users, which was made public by whistleblowers in October. “Google executives decided to hide the breaches from its users and continued to mislead investors and federal regulators. This is an unconscionable violation of public trust by Google,” state General Treasurer Seth Magaziner said in a press release. (PROVIDENCE JOURNAL)
MARYLAND Gov. Larry Hogan (R) has proposed using $1.9 billion in casino gambling revenue over the next five years for school construction. The state’s voters authorized that action with the approval of a ballot measure (Question 1) on Nov. 6. (WASHINGTON POST)
The cost of IOWA’s HAWK-I program, which provides health insurance to 70,000 children from moderate-income families, will balloon from $7 million to $37 million over the next two years. The impending increase is due to a phase-out of additional federal funding for such programs. (DES MOINES REGISTER)
The MONTANA Supreme Court struck down a program that provides tax credits to those who donate to private-school scholarships. The justices ruled 5-2 that those contributions amount to state aid to religious institutions, which is prohibited by the state’s Constitution. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
MISSISSIPPI counties pay about $100 million a year to jail those who haven’t been convicted of crimes but are instead awaiting trial, nearly half of whom have been incarcerated for over 90 days, according to a database compiled by the MacArthur Justice Center. That sum is more than the $98 million the state spends annually on child protective services. (CLARION LEDGER [JACKSON])
-- Compiled by KOREY CLARK
It’s going to be considerably harder to qualify initiatives and referendums for California’s ballot next year, thanks to the high voter turnout in the state for the Nov. 6 election.
Signature requirements for ballot measures in California are adjusted every four years, based on the total number of votes cast in each gubernatorial election. Backers of proposed measures have to submit enough valid signatures to equal 5 percent of the most recent gubernatorial vote tally for statutory changes and 8 percent for constitutional ones.
As a result of the record low turnout in the state’s 2014 governor’s race, in which Gov. Jerry Brown (D) was reelected, the signature thresholds for the last four years have been at their lowest point in decades, 365,880 for statutory measures and 585,407 for constitutional amendments. But with more than 12.4 million votes having been cast last month in electing Democrat Gavin Newsom as the state’s next governor, those thresholds will jump to 620,439 and 992,702, respectively.
Given those higher limits, and the fact that far more signatures will actually have to be collected to ensure enough valid ones are submitted, the price tag for ballot measures will also go up significantly next year, according to Gale Kaufman, a veteran Democratic strategist based in Sacramento.
The “rule of thumb is to collect approximately 75 percent over what you need,” Kaufman said. “So, if you are on any kind of tight budget, the new numbers will add close to a million [dollars], if not more, to initiatives.”
“Generally speaking, 2016 and 2018 were seen as sort of opportunities in California for initiatives because of the low 2014 turnout,” said Josh Altic, who researches ballot measures for the website Ballotpedia. “2020 and 2022 will be seen as the opposite of that.” (LOS ANGELES TIMES, HILL)
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)
Outgoing FLORIDA Senate president Joe Negron (R) has taken a job with private prison operator Geo Group. When Negron became Senate president in 2016, the company contributed $270,000 to a political committee he controlled, and he supported legislation beneficial to Geo in particular and private prison interests in general, including a bill that nearly passed in 2012 which would have privatized the state’s entire prison system. (MIAMI HERALD)
NEBRASKA’s Democratic Party has voted to discontinue using caucuses, which it has been doing since 2008, and go back to using a regular primary system. According to a press release the party is making the change to “ensure all Democrats and Independents can participate in our Presidential primary while also voting for critical down ballot candidates.” (OMAHA WORLD-HERALD)
KANSAS state senator Barbara Bollier has switched parties from Republican to Democrat. She cited President Trump as a factor in her decision, but she also has a history of clashing with Republican leadership over LGBT and other issues and serves a district that leans Democratic. (WICHITA EAGLE)
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) unveiled a $675 million proposal to dramatically reshape how patients in the Evergreen State’s mental health system are cared for.
Inslee’s plan calls for hundreds of new community mental-health beds and the creation of a first-of-its-kind partnership with the University of Washington to establish a new teaching hospital focused on behavioral health. It would also address an ongoing worker shortage by committing $4 million to developing more mental-health workers by creating a new state-funded scholarship program for students who agree to work in high-demand behavioral health fields at state hospitals and community sites.
Other tenets include funding long-term housing options and tailoring treatment for patients who don’t need 24-hour supervision or care.
“We know we need to transform our mental-health-care system,” Inslee said during a news conference announcing the proposal. “For too long, we’ve had too long of a line of people who need to get into the door of mental-health-care treatment.”
The Washington mental health system has been the subject of numerous court orders and lawsuits in recent years, including for keeping patients in emergency rooms and other inappropriate settings without proper treatment because of a lack of bed space, or in jail for extended periods of time awaiting mental competency evaluations.
The state’s largest mental health facility, Western State Hospital, has also been cited several times by federal officials for lackluster patient safety and care standards. Thigs got so bad that the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services this year decertified the facility, costing the state more than $50 million in federal funding.
Under Inslee’s proposal, some patients from both Western State and Eastern State hospitals would be moved to new community beds.
Because federal law bars reimbursing for treatment at community facilities with more than 16 beds, Inslee has historically favored smaller sites that stay within that limit. But Inslee cited a recent offering from the Trump administration to allow states to request a waiver from the law, which he said could facilitate building the larger facilities the state needs.
The next hurdles will be convincing lawmakers to endorse the necessary funding and local communities to embrace having the facilities in their neighborhoods. Inslee acknowledged that the latter might be the harder of the two.
“We’re going to need to talk to neighborhoods and communities to make sure they’re comfortable with those provisions,” he said. (SEATTLE TIMES, LEWISTON TRIBUNE, WASHINGTON GOVERNOR’S OFFCE)
A spokesperson for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said the governor will unveil a proposal early next year to legalize recreational marijuana use in the Empire State. It would presumably come after a new Democratic majority is sworn in to both legislative chambers.
The proposal would mark a significant change of heart for Cuomo, who has previously opposed efforts to legalize recreational weed use, calling it “a gateway drug.” Cuomo spokesman Tyrone Stevens noted the governor’s new position came about after a series of 17 “listening sessions” in cities around the state.
“Now that the listening sessions have concluded, the working group has begun accessing and reviewing the feedback we received and we expect to introduce a formal comprehensive proposal early in the 2019 legislative session,” he said.
There is also the fact that recreational marijuana use became legal in neighboring Massachusetts this year, and New Jersey is close to following suit. A report by New York Comptroller Scott Stringer earlier this year posited that legalizing weed would create a $3.1 billion-a-year market in New York. (NEW YORK POST, NBC NEWS, HILL)
Outgoing WISCONSIN Gov. Scott Walker (R) signaled his intention to sign a package of bills passed by lawmakers in the lame duck session that are widely interpreted as a move by majority Republicans to limit the power of Gov.-elect Tony Evers (D). In a long Facebook post, Walker said Evers would still have some of the strongest powers of any governor in the nation. (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, GOVERNING)
WISCONSIN Gov.–elect Tony Evers (D) announced the formation of a state task force to develop an action plan for reforming the Badger State prison system. Task force members will include two former state Supreme Court justices and three people who previously ran the system. (WISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO)
NEBRASKA Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) said he is open to working with lawmakers to develop a so-called “stand your ground” law in the Cornhusker State. Such statutes give residents far greater latitude to use lethal force to defend themselves in their homes, workplaces and other locations. (LINCOLN JOURNAL-STAR)
The MONTANA Supreme Court ruled that Gov. Steve Bullock (D) acted within the law when he circumvented the State Board of Land Commissioners to finalize an eastern Montana conservation easement. The ruling overturned a legal opinion issued by Attorney General Tim Fox (R). As a result of the ruling, the Land Board will no longer cast the deciding vote on conservation easements. (MISSOULIAN)
Anticipating a budget surplus in the coming year, VIRGINIA Gov. Ralph Northam (D) proposed dedicating $90 million each year starting in fiscal year 2020 to a cost-sharing program to help farmers make their properties more environmentally friendly. He also proposed a one-time $50 million deposit into a state fund that provides cities and counties that include urban areas with matching grants to manage the quality of water running off roads, parking lots and sidewalks. Lawmakers must approve the proposal. (DAILY PRESS [NEWPORT NEWS])
MICHIGAN Gov. Rick Snyder (R) signed legislation Wednesday (SB 1197) to create a new authority to oversee a controversial proposal to replace the Line 5 tunnel in the Straits of Mackinac. Opponents say the plan puts the state at risk for a catastrophic spill during the seven to 10 years it is expected to take to dig the $350-million tunnel in bedrock beneath the straits. Snyder named a top aide, an academic and a labor leader as the authority’s three members. Gov.-elect Gretchen Whitmer (D) and Attorney General-elect Dana Nessel (D) both oppose the new line, saying Line 5 should be decommissioned instead. (LANSING STATE JOURNAL)
A WASHINGTON D.C. Superior Court blocks an effort to force a new referendum on a law that would overhaul how servers, bartenders and other tipped workers are paid. District voters approved the original measure, Initiative 77, in June, but the law was later overturned by the DC Council. Judge Neal E. Kravitz ruled that elections officials failed to follow proper procedure when they allowed referendum supporters to collect signatures (WASHINGTON POST).
The OHIO Senate approves HB 58, which would require all Buckeye State school kids to be proficient in writing cursive by the fifth grade. It returns to the House (HILL).
The MICHIGAN House approves HB 5526, a bill that would create an A-F letter grading system for Wolverine State schools. It moves to the Senate (MLIVE).
The CALIFORNIA Building Standards Commission finalizes new rules that make the Golden State the first in the nation to require new homes built in 2020 and beyond to be solar-powered (ASSOCIATED PRESS).
The MICHIGAN Legislature approves HB 4205, which would bar state agencies from adopting non-emergency rules more stringent than the applicable federal standard unless specifically authorized by state law or unless the agency director determines there is a clear and convincing need to exceed the applicable federal standard. The measure moves to Gov. Rick Snyder (R) for consideration (DETROIT FREE PRESS).
A MAINE court rejects a plea from the administration of Gov. Paul LePage (R) to delay the implementation of a voter-approved Medicaid expansion in the Pine Tree State. Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy set a new start date for enrolling residents into the program of Feb 1, 2019 (PORTLAND PRESS HERALD).
PENNSYLVANIA health officials announce they will make prescriptions of the anti-overdose drug naloxone available at 80 state and local health offices around the Keystone State on Dec. 13 (ASSOCIATED PRESS).
The Supreme Court of the United States declines to review whether states can block Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers from their Medicaid programs. The Court’s decision rejects a pair of petitions from KANSAS and LOUISIANA seeking the ban on abortion providers (POLITICO).
The OHIO Senate approves HB 258, which would ban doctors from performing abortion procedures as soon as a fetal heartbeat is detected, as early as six weeks into pregnancy. The measure returned to the House for concurrence (CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER).
The MICHIGAN House approves SB 1198, which would permanently prohibit doctors from using an Internet web camera to prescribe medication to induce an abortion. It moves to Gov. Rick Snyder (R) for consideration (DETROIT NEWS).
The DENVER City Council endorses a proposal to change where electric scooters are allowed to operate. Under the proposal, scooters will be required to stay in bike lanes or on the street if the posted speed limit is 30 miles per hour or less. If the posted limit is higher, scooters may be on a sidewalk but limited to no more than 6 miles per hour. It now heads to a full council vote (DENVER CHANNEL).
-- Compiled by RICH EHISEN
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:
Forced labor also impacts 40.3 million adults. And it’s not just happening in emerging nations. While the U.S. has laws against forced labor—and, indeed, against the import of goods made with forced labor—the problem still exists.
Many companies are committed to eradicating forced labor from their supply chains, but it is an uphill battle given the complexity of global supply chains. Best practices for mitigating forced labor risk include:
Next Steps:
Many organizations use Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) standards or engage in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs to support sustainable business practices and mitigate third-party risk. But what about on the home-front? ‘Tis the season of celebration, but the glittery decorations and twinkling lights disguise a growing mountain of waste. Holiday treats and popular gifts bring the risk of forced labor or child labor in the extended supply chain. Let’s take a closer look.
Wrapped up in waste
Throughout the winter holiday season, Americans send greeting cards, exchange beautifully wrapped presents and indulge in festive buffets. While we don’t want to put a damper on the joy that comes from reveling family and friends, we don’t think better awareness into the sustainability of our celebrations is a bad thing. After all, during the rest of the year, we blog about risk awareness and the benefits of ESG and CSR for corporations. Why not consider those principles for us—as consumers—as well?
The statistics are stunning. According to research by the Peninsula Sanitary Service, inc (PSSI) and the Stanford Recycling Center, which are partnering with Stanford University toward a goal of zero waste, the holiday season is replete with waste. The period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day sees 25 percent more trash created than any other time of year—equating to one million extra tons of waste per week. How can we make a dent in the trash pile?
But let’s look a little deeper at the issue.
We all know people who are committed recyclers of wrapping paper and gift bags. Grandparents who lived through the Great Depression and learned the art of reduce/reuse/recycle long before it was trendy. Moms who gather up all the gift bags for use next year—often to the same people so no new tag is needed either. Siblings who painstakingly unwrap gifts and gloat because they still have gifts to unwrap after everyone else is done. (Or is that just my family?) But such practices can make a big difference. So can using reusable decorative tins or baskets, buying holiday cards and wrapping paper made with recycled content.
And what about the gifts underneath the wrapping paper? Like the Island of Misfit Toys in one holiday classic, landfills see more than their fair share of broken toys and faded fads—not to mention the leftover snacks that got into the bin after a holiday party. What’s more, a wide range of popular gifts come with the risk of forced labor or child labor in the supply chain—from the chocolate delights that you hand to a party host to the holiday-themed PJs many where throughout the season.
Gift-giving can be more environmentally and socially responsible. For example, give gifts that support year-round eco-consciousness like refillable water bottles, canvas shopping totes, or battery rechargers. Looks for solar-powered products or ones that have long life cycles and few power requirements like Legos. And, of course, homemade gifts are a great alternative. Not sure what to make? In the age of Pinterest, you have plenty of inspiration to choose from and even a Pinterest ‘fail’ will be good for a laugh during your holiday get-togethers.
And to keep forced labor out of your gift bag, look for brands that have strong commitments to CSR and ESG standards and fair-trade sources for unique gifts that come from sustainable supply chains. By supporting companies that are committed to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, holiday consumers can provide even more incentive for organizations to embrace best practices for mitigating the risk of forced labor in supply chains and developing products and services that do good not only for customers, but for communities around the world.
Isn’t that the ‘good will’ that is at the heart of the holidays anyhow?
Coordinating a global PR strategy can sometimes seem like a Sisyphean struggle. When cornerstone ideas of your company's (or client's) brand don't cross international borders, there's a temptation to either limit your reach or cook up completely different strategies for each territory. However, there is recent precedent for commercial ideas circling the globe, bringing rich new PR opportunities with them—for evidence, simply look at the Retailers Mentioned in conjunction Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Black Friday started as a simple concept, namely that it is the day after Thanksgiving and the first shopping day of the winter holiday season. Brands would naturally want such a buying frenzy to go global in an age of cross-border commerce, but there's a hitch—Thanksgiving is an American holiday. What to do? Companies have remained tenacious and, as the examples below show, the shopping holiday has found its feet in markets that don't celebrate Thanksgiving.
Black Friday Crosses the Pacific
The words "Black Friday" have become divorced from Thanksgiving, and are now being used to sell goods around the world. Last year, Kotaku culture reporter Brian Ashcraft highlighted the expansion of a three-day Black Friday sales period running through the post-Thanksgiving weekend in Japan. While the unofficial holiday doesn't yet prompt the kind of hysteria it promises in America, the Black Friday name is omnipresent.
Ashcraft noted that the attempt to drive shopping in Japan is in its early stages, which makes Japan an interesting case to watch from a PR perspective. Some retailers, obviously reacting to buyer confusion about what the sales represent, have taken an informative approach to their promotional campaigns.
The question now facing Japanese retailers is whether they can establish Black Friday in the country's lineup of important retail dates. Ashcraft explained that the New Year is currently the king of sales in the country, with its own unique traditions. Retailers have ample incentive to continue pushing Black Friday via informational campaigns, hype and whatever other means they can come up with—it would make a great addition to their fall financial statements.
UK Shoppers Join the Black Friday Throngs
Fortune's 2016 overview of Black Friday in the United Kingdom revealed a country that has internalized the retail holiday so deeply that it is already evolving dramatically. Retailers are shifting from in-person sales to enabling online and mobile shopping. The source explained that 2014 represented a breaking point. Bad weather and fights between shoppers painted Black Friday as an unpleasant experience. But it didn't disappear, it went online.
Now, Fortune reported that companies were preparing for a wave of purchases made from smartphones. The concept of time-sensitive discounts remains, but the manner of sales has increased. There is a PR lesson in this change, too: Companies shouldn't be afraid to let the nature of an event change, provided they still stand to benefit from it.
In a few short years, Black Friday has gone from an imported retail scrum to a chance for companies to boost their online sales revenues before the winter holidays. This is an especially impressive pivot considering the original impetus for Black Friday—Thanksgiving—is absent from the UK calendar.
This trend is spreading to other countries as well. Shoppers in Germany and France have joined the bargain-hunting fray. Our neighbor to the north has embraced Black Friday, in part because Canadian retailers want to keep shoppers from crossing the border for great deals. And NPR’s Weekend Edition showcased on-the-ground reporting at Black Friday events in Bogota, Colombia. Retailers in Australia, Brazil and Denmark have also begun offering Black Friday discounts.
Data Visualizations Highlight Coverage & Reach of Black Friday
Okay, yes, Black Friday started in the U.S., but where does it stand today? What about the rise of Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday and Giving Tuesday? Looking at the media coverage over time, Black Friday still garners most of the media attention, but Cyber Monday has its own day to shine. Compared to last year, Coverage Over Time increased for both Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Small Business Saturday coverage fared the worst, earning less coverage than another recent addition—Giving Tuesday.
Cyber Monday grabbed 19% of the share of voice with more than 276,000 articles, and the two newbies—Small Business Saturday and Giving Tuesday—captured over 3.1% and 2.4% share of voice respectively.
While Giving Tuesday and Small Business Saturday coverage may be small, the media article count for these two purchasing holidays has grown by over 10,000 articles since our tracking in 2015. Here in the U.S., businesses may get lost in the shuffle with a Black Friday campaign, so adept PR professionals may look to the lesser known shopping days to get some brand coverage. Giving Tuesday may be just the opportunity to connect the fun and excitement of Black Friday with corporate social responsibility campaigns. Will Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday and Small Business Saturday become the next global exports? Well, Giving Tuesday has already made it to 68 countries across the globe. Where will it go next?
Keep Your Eyes Open for PR Opportunities
As a PR professional, your job is to always stay aware of potential opportunities, no matter where those chances appear. Whether you're leading the charge into a new territory or taking advantage of changing conditions, media monitoring with a global reach is an essential element of your expansion. If the global Black Friday spread proves one thing, it's that you should never assume that a promotional tactic won't work in a specific territory. Where there's a will, there's a way.
Issues like budgets and funding for education are staples of every legislative session in every state. In our second installment of our annual three-part legislative preview, we continue our look at other issues we think will keep lawmakers occupied in the coming year.
HEALTH CARE: Although the hue and cry heading into November’s mid-term elections was often centered on other issues, voters were most concerned with health care. As reporter Annie Lowrey wrote in The Atlantic a few days before the election, “Health care has become the single most important policy topic in the midterm elections — everywhere and nowhere, a strange kind of omnipresent sleeper issue. It’s not grabbing many national headlines, compared with the migrant caravan or the Supreme Court fight or violence directed against minority groups or the trade war, but it’s motivating voters in race after race after race.”
That isn’t likely to abate in the coming year, even though Democrats reclaiming the House likely will prevent Congressional Republicans and President Trump from completely overturning the Affordable Care Act. But any number of federal rules around issues like insurer subsidies and approving state-level plans definitely remain in play, including for those that violate tenets of the ACA.
The end of the federal mandate for individuals to have health coverage or pay a penalty will also be part of the discussion. With several states already reporting a decline in ACA enrollment, there is growing concern among health advocates that the uninsured will again be flooding into emergency rooms, long the most expensive and least efficient medical care available. With virtually no chance that Congress will reinstate the mandate, some states will at least consider copying New Jersey by imposing their own mandate.
MEDICAID: Of the seven governorships that are moving from GOP to Dem control, all seven Democrats ran on a platform of expanding Medicaid or retaining expansion already undertaken in their states. Voters also endorsed ballot measures to authorize expansion in Idaho, Nebraska and Utah, bringing to 36 the number of states agreeing to broaden Medicaid eligibility to include those earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. Attention will focus primarily on Kansas and Wisconsin, two of the states with incoming Democratic governors that support expansion but which face GOP-controlled legislatures where support for it ranges from uncertain to unlikely.
DRUG PRICES: States have made a number of efforts in recent years to control rising prescription drug prices, including bills to address pharmaceutical price gouging, removing so-called “gag orders” on pharmacy benefit managers and requiring greater transparency from drug companies seeking price hikes. With federal action on drug pricing bogged down, expect states to continue looking at numerous angles for controlling price increases.
NET NEUTRALITY: Net neutrality – barring telecoms and ISP providers from blocking or slowing down access to websites or other Internet services and content to coerce consumers into paying for their services instead – became a highly contentious issue in a majority of statehouses in 2018. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), 30 states introduced a total of 72 bills this year addressing net neutrality, with three adopting net neutrality requirements. A fourth, California’s SB 822, would enact even tougher net neutrality requirements than those the FCC dropped earlier this year.
The wild card is pending litigation before the U.S. Court of Appeals in D.C., which is expected to rule in the spring on a lawsuit brought forth by 22 state attorneys general, consumer groups and even some tech companies seeking to overturn the FCC action. There are also two pending lawsuits seeking to overturn the California law, one by a collection of telecoms and the other by the Trump administration. California reached an agreement with the Department of Justice to hold off on implementing its law until the court rules.
If the court ultimately restores net neutrality, state laws would essentially become moot. If not, or if the case continues on to a possible Supreme Court challenge, another wave of state-level legislation, particularly in states that turned blue on Election Day, could be forthcoming.
GERRYMANDERING: With centennial redistricting drawing near and partisanship at a fever pitch, the interest in who will draw state and congressional district lines is intense. As reported in the SNCJ last month, at least 19 states this year considered bills to have those lines drawn by independent commissions rather than by lawmakers, while voters in four states approved measures in November to adopt commissions. Meanwhile, legal battles continue over how the lines in Maryland, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Texas and Virginia are drawn. Another is likely to be filed in New Jersey if majority Democrats there go forth with a plan to change the Garden State constitution to entrench their hold on Trenton. Meanwhile, eyes will be on Missouri, where voters approved a measure that creates a first-in-the-nation system using a mathematical formula to ensure fairness in how its lines are drawn.
SPORTS BETTING: In the months since the Supreme Court struck down a federal ban on sports betting, a half dozen states have gone all in on the opportunity to score big off the nation’s passion for wagering on sports. If the fiscal windfall in states like New Jersey is any indication of the money to be made, it shouldn’t be surprising that a whole lot more are looking to join them in 2019 (See Budget & Taxes in this issue). But doing so requires answering some potentially thorny questions, such as how much each state will tax sports wagers, both in person and online, and what kind of licensing fees states will charge to sportsbook operators. There is also the growing push from professional sports leagues to get their cut in the form of so-called “integrity fees” they say will cover their increased cost of ensuring the games stay above board.
OPIOIDS: In recent years states have undertaken a wide range of efforts to curb opioid abuse, including weighing in on at least 480 opioid-related bills across 45 states in 2018. But in spite of many states providing greater access to the overdose-reversing drug naloxone, limiting how doctors may prescribe opioid pain medications and significantly enhanced monitoring of drug prescriptions, opioid-related deaths continue to rise. With no end in sight, there will undoubtedly continue to be a staggering number of bills introduced in this area. One interesting possibility to keep an eye on is the use of cannabis for pain relief instead of opioid medications. Although the supporting data is limited, states like Illinois and Georgia are now openly promoting marijuana as an alternative to opioids.
PAID SICK LEAVE: Less than a dozen states currently have laws requiring employers to offer workers specific amounts of paid sick leave, something that has driven the issue more to the local level than to statewide applications. That could well change with Democrats taking control of all branches of government in several states next year. But opponents of such laws are also gearing up for a fight. In Michigan, the GOP-controlled legislature this month made sweeping changes to paid sick leave and minimum wage laws adopted last September as a means for keeping them off the ballot. And in Texas, a recent appeals court ruling invalidated a paid sick leave ordinance adopted in Austin last February. The ruling was specific to that city, but observers expect it will spark a challenge to a similar ordinance in San Antonio, and legislation has already been filed in the statehouse to bar local jurisdictions from adopting their own paid sick leave laws.
DISASTER LIABILITY: A battle is shaping up in fire-ravaged California over not only how to better protect against massive wildfires but also the liability of public utilities like Pacific Gas & Electric for its role in how many of those fires started. Similar debates could strike up all over the western U.S., as assuredly will those revolving around efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change.
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Voters in three states approved measures on Election Night to expand Medicaid, bringing to 36 [plus the District of Columbia] that have agreed to broaden eligibility to include those earning 138 percent of the federal poverty rate. One of those, Maine, approved expansion in 2017 but the process has been repeatedly blocked by Gov. Paul LePage (R). That is expected to change in January when Gov.-elect Janet Mills (D) takes office. Conversely, Montana voters in November rejected a ballot measure that would have extended the Treasure State’s expansion beyond June 30, 2019. That plan will sunset on that date unless lawmakers act to extend it.
Missouri is among a handful of states that will consider becoming the next to legalize betting on sports, with legislation filed this past week considered among those with strong odds for success.
Bills to legalize sports bets have also already been pre-filed in Virginia, Kentucky, and in Tennessee, where it was filed early enough to get the bill number HB 1.
Tennessee may be the long shot of the latest interested states, though. There aren’t any casinos or racetracks in the Volunteer State, so who might apply for a license is unclear. And Gov.-elect Bill Lee (R) said during the campaign he opposes legalizing sports betting.
New York will also be closely watched. Legislation to legalize betting failed in Albany last year, but Assemblyman Gary Pretlow (D) recently told Legal Sports Report he will refile sports betting legislation in January.
In Missouri, legislation by Sen. Denny Hoskins (R) authorizes sports betting, and the House sponsor of last year’s failed effort in the Show Me State said he thinks the bill will generate interest.
“I certainly anticipate it being out there for discussion before the House and the Senate,” Rep. Dean Plocher (R) told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Missouri has 13 casinos that are interested in the market, and backers there have pushed for the tax revenue from sports betting to go to education. The Associated Press reported that while Gov. Mike Parson (R) isn’t leading the charge to legalize sports betting, a spokesman said he isn’t opposed to the idea either. Analysts cited by the industry blog Legal Gambling and the Law estimate Missouri’s sports betting market could be worth $60 million.
Hoskins’ bill in Missouri currently calls for a 12 percent tax on gross receipts from wagering, and a $10,000 application fee for licenses to run sports books.
Legislation in Virginia envisions a 15 percent tax rate, and a $250,000 licensing fee for up to five sports books. Kentucky’s measure, by Sen. Julian Carroll (D), would only put a 3 percent tax on the handle, along with a $250,000 licensing fee. Tennessee would impose a 10 percent tax with a $7,500 license fee. (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, ASSOCIATED PRESS, SPORTS HANDLE, CASINO.ORG, LEGAL SPORTS REPORT)