Update to Corporate Accountability Backlash To Jim Crow 2.0 Voter Suppression Bills (Updated).
72 Black business executives published a letter in The New York Times urging corporate leaders to speak out.
Nearly 200 companies speaking out against voting law changes in Texas, other states:
Nearly 200 companies on Friday joined in a strong statement against proposals that threaten to restrict voting access in dozens of states, in a further sign of corporate willingness to speak out on social justice issues. [E]xecutives from at least 193 companies — including Dow, HP, Twitter and Estée Lauder — urged the protection of voting rights across the country. The joint statement was organized by Civic Alliance, a nonpartisan group of businesses focused on voter engagement.
The Greater Phoenix Leadership Letter re: Business Leadership Opposition to Senate Bills 1485, 1593 and 1713. See the GPL Link for the signatories.
Here’s the catch. While these corporations are now taking a stance against GQP Jim Crow 2.0 voter suppression laws, and publicly stating that they support democracy and easier access to voting for all Americans, they also continue to fund the anti-democratic U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and here in Arizona, the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, organizations which have overwhelmingly funded the GQP legislators advancing these Jim Crow 2.0 voter suppression laws.
In the case of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, it has taken a position opposing H.R. 1/ S. 1 the For The People Act, which would halt in its tracks these Jim Crow 2.0 voter suppression laws GQP state legislatures are enacting. (It is safe to assume the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry also opposes H.R. 1/ S. 1 the For The People Act).
Corporations are thus having it both ways. Corporations cannot just talk the talk, they must also walk the walk.
It is not enough to merely threaten to defund GQP voter suppression legislators (do it!), corporations also must defund the anti-democratic Chambers of Commerce that are contradicting the pledge these corporations recently made. They can’t have it both ways.
CNN reports, Target, Google and others are under pressure to dump the Chamber of Commerce over voting rights:
Progressive activists are calling on Ford, Target, Google, Bank of America and other major companies that have pledged to support voting rights to cut ties with the US Chamber of Commerce, CNN Business has learned.
At issue is the Chamber of Commerce’s fierce opposition to the Democrats’ sweeping voting bill known as the For the People Act, which advocates say would counter efforts by Georgia and other states to impose new voting restrictions.
The Chamber of Commerce has slammed the legislation, which last month was approved by the US House of Representatives, as “extremely problematic” in part because of new curbs on political advocacy by companies and associations.
The Chamber is one of the most powerful trade groups in the nation. In 2020 alone, the organization spent $81.9 million trying to influence government policy, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The only organization that spent more was the National Association of Realtors.
Accountable.US, a progressive watchdog group, sent letters Wednesday to 25 companies that have a relationship with the Chamber of Commerce even though they signed last week’s statement in the New York Times vowing to oppose discriminatory voting legislation.
The campaign from activists underscores the enormous pressure companies are under to follow up their verbal support for voting rights with concrete action.
“By ignoring the Chamber’s opposition to a bill that protects an essential right in our democracy, these executives are violating their commitment and siding against the millions of Americans — including many of their own employees — fighting racist voter suppression tactics,” Kyle Herrig, president of Accountable.US, told CNN Business.
‘Serious risk’ to brand reputations
Letters were sent 17 companies that Accountable.US says are official Chamber of Commerce members, including Target, BlackRock, Citigroup, Google, Microsoft, American Airlines, IBM and Merck, whose CEO Ken Frazier has helped lead a campaign among Black executives to oppose restrictive voting legislation.
“By continuing to provide financial and social support to the Chamber, Target is contradicting the pledge you, and hundreds of other corporations, recently made,” Accountable.US wrote in a letter calling on Target CEO Brian Cornell to renounce the company’s membership.
The group warned that supporting the Chamber of Commerce “poses a serious risk to Target’s reputation.”
A separate letter sent to Google CEO Sundar Pichai argued “silence on this matter is tantamount to an endorsement of the Chamber’s decision and shows where Google stands on protecting an individual’s right to vote.”
Accountable.US sent letters to another eight companies whose executives sit on the Chamber of Commerce’s board or have been featured on the Chamber’s foundation website.
“If they truly believe in protecting one of our most fundamental constitutional rights, they have no choice but to cut ties with the Chamber,” Herrig said.
In a statement to CNN Business, a spokesperson for the Chamber of Commerce called the campaign by Accountable.US a “misrepresentation” of what the organization has said. The spokesperson emphasized that the Chamber of Commerce is deeply troubled by efforts to change election law on a partisan basis because that can erode confidence in election outcomes.
Wait for it, both-siderism and bipartisanship non-responsive answer to the issue:
“Our elected leaders, Democrat and Republican need to find common grown when making changes to election laws. We need consensus not division on important issues,” the Chamber of Commerce said.
Chamber of Commerce says bill would ‘silence’ some Americans
Companies frequently take different positions than that of trade associations they belong to.
“We work with many coalitions, trade groups, and industry associations on a broad range of topics,” Ford said in a statement. “When it comes to voting rights, Ford’s position is clear: We believe that equitable access to voting rights for all people is the bedrock of a democratic society.”
Google recently threw its weight behind the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, a separate bill backed by Democrats that would restore a key part of the historic Voting Rights Act that was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2013.
“We’re concerned about efforts to restrict voting at a local level and we strongly support the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act,” Kent Walker, Google’s senior vice president of global affairs, said in a tweet late last month.
Last week, the Chamber of Commerce sent a “key vote alert” to senators to detailing why it “strongly opposes” the For the People Act and warning that it could include votes related to the bill in its annual scorecard.
The Chamber of Commerce argued changes to election law should be done on a bipartisan basis and said the Democrat bill would push “certain voices, representing large segments of the electorate and US economy, out of the political process altogether.”
The Chamber means unlimited corporate spending by the Chamber under Citizens United, which the For The People Act begins to reverse.
The Chamber took particular issue with new restrictions on communications by associations. The bill “would regulate and ultimately silence Americans who choose to petition their government or participate in the political process through the collective action of an association or corporation,” the 
Chamber of Commerce’s key vote letter said.
The Chamber means that Corporations will no longer be able to dominate political debate with their unlimited corporate campaign spending. Call the Whambulance!
Boycott threats — from both sides
CEOs face a difficult balancing act in standing up for democracy without alienating customers or sparking a backlash from politicians and regulators.
Hundreds of companies signed onto last week’s full-page ad in the NY Times pledging to oppose “any discriminatory legislation or measures that restrict or prevent any eligible voter from having an equal and fair opportunity to cast a ballot.”
After Major League Baseball, Delta Air Lines and others voiced opposition to Georgia’s controversial law, former President Donald Trump called for a boycott of these brands. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell warned the companies “will invite serious consequences if they become a vehicle for far-left mobs.”
Lawmakers in Georgia threatened to revoke tax breaks benefiting Delta after CEO Ed Bastian blasted the state’s election law.
Similarly, Texas GQP Lawmakers Retaliating Against Corporations Who Speak Out Against New Voter Suppression Laws.
At the same time, companies that have taken a more cautious approach towards speaking out about voting rights are under pressure.
Faith leaders in Georgia called for a boycott this week of Home Depot because the Atlanta-based company has not publicly opposed the state’s election law. That boycott could expand to Chick-Fil-A and Arby’s.
Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn’s co-founder, is calling on business leaders to back up their verbal support for voting rights by cutting off funding for politicians who seek to limit voting rights.
“This is an important moment in history,” Hoffman told CNN Business in an email. “It may be a longer battle than it ought to be, but I do know what side of the fight, as a patriotic American citizen — and as a businessperson — that I want to be on.”
The Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry has always been the enemy of the good in Arizona. They have had control of the Arizona legislature for decades through their lickspittle lackeys in the Republican Party.
When Arizona citizens try to bypass the Chamber’s control of the legislature with citizens initiatives, the Chamber spends millions in misleading negative ads to defeat the initiative, and failing that, then spends millions more in court to reverse the will of the people (as they are doing with Prop. 208 Invest In Ed right now). The Chamber’s attitude has always been “We own this state. We decide, and you will obey!”
The Chamber can only maintain its abuse of power as long as their lickspittle lackeys in the Republican Party remain in control of the legislature. Hence, the Chambers support GQP Jim Crow 2.0 voter suppression laws to maintain a tyranny of the minority.
If these newly “woke” corporations (see the Greater Phoenix Leadership Letter re: Business Leadership Opposition to Senate Bills 1485, 1593 and 1713, and the GPL Link for the signatories) are serious about their pledge to defend democracy and the right to vote, they also must defund the Chambers of Commerce that are contradicting the pledge these corporations recently made. They can’t have it both ways.
Discover more from Blog for Arizona
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Karen Tumulty writes at the Washington Post, “Texas goes to war with corporate America”, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/04/22/texas-goes-war-with-corporate-america/
It is hard to think of a situation that better reflects the state of Republican politics today than the fact that GOP leaders in Texas, of all places, have decided to declare war on corporate America.
The issue at hand is voting rights. Big companies are taking a stand against new Republican proposals that could lead to long lines at the polls, make it harder for many, especially racial minorities, to vote, and put more control of elections into partisan hands.
Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has lambasted corporations that have criticized the measures under consideration in Austin as a “nest of liars.” They include Fort Worth-based American Airlines and Dell Technologies, which is headquartered outside of Austin — both of which are major employers in the state and have issued statements opposing the proposals the legislature is considering.
As my colleague Amy Gardner reported, one state representative has even filed a constitutionally dubious amendment that would prohibit a state fund from giving any assistance to “an entity that publicly threatened any adverse reaction against this state based on any legislative or executive action related to election integrity that was proposed or taken in 2020, 2021, or 2022 by the legislature or the governor of this state.”
Texas already has some of the most restrictive voting laws in the country. What state lawmakers are looking at would, among other things, narrow early voting hours, allow fewer polling places, and criminalize mistakes by election officials and volunteer poll workers.
It should not be forgotten that, as recently as 2019, Texas officials raised a baseless alarm — amplified in a tweet by then-President Donald Trump — that 58,000 non-citizens had voted in the state. It turned out that there was indeed fraud, but it was being committed by the officials themselves in an effort to purge the rolls of people who were legally and legitimately registered. The whole embarrassing and shameful mess led to the resignation of Texas Secretary of State David Whitley, an Abbott appointee.
Texas has long prided itself on a welcoming climate for business. But the increasingly ideological — and irrational — tilt of some of those who lead it has been a growing worry for corporations.
[S]o what is driving the latest ideological spasm? As long as we are talking about how Texas conducts its elections, one factor that merits more attention is dismally low voter turnout in primary contests and runoffs, which has made the Texas GOP hostage to the most extreme elements of the base.
[C]ompanies make money by paying attention to their customers, as well as their employees, and the decision by so many to speak up on voting rights issues is no doubt based in large part on what firms believe is good for business. It will be interesting to see whether they will be intimidated by howls and even threats of retribution from politicians whose own agenda is driven by their desire to do whatever it takes cling to power.
I, for one, am going to place my bet on the voice of the free enterprise system. Too bad Texas Republican leaders don’t want to listen to it any more.