The business backlash against Georgia’s new voting law alerts other states.
Texas, Florida and Arizona are among the Republican-led states that consider similar legislation, and set the stage for possible clashes with companies based there.
Industry experts take a close look at how things are developing in Georgia to see if there is a boycott and loss of business similar to what North Carolina experienced in terms of its 2016 “bathroom bill”. made it clearer Friday when Major League Baseball announced it would not hold this year’s All-Star Game in Georgia, as originally planned.
Texas companies are already weighing in on a bill that makes its way through the state legislature that would limit early voting hours and expand the authority of observers in favor of polls.
American Airlines opposed the legislation passed by the state Senate on Thursday, while Dallas-based Southwest Airlines said in a statement that “the right to vote is fundamental to our democracy,” but did not directly oppose the measure.
“That’s not good enough, @SouthwestAir. Do you oppose these SB7 / HB6 extreme voter suppression laws?” he tweeted Julián Castro, the former Democratic mayor of San Antonio and former Obama’s secretary of housing and urban development.
This type of public criticism puts more pressure on consumer-oriented companies to choose a side, experts say.
“Whether they want to or not, I think [companies are] we will be hearing more and more political issues and sometimes very political political issues. In the past, it might have been a little easier to say, ‘Don’t comment. We don’t talk about it. I think that’s always unrealistic, ”said John Forrer, director of the Institute for Corporate Responsibility at George Washington University.
Advocates of voting rights focus on Arizona and Florida too.
In Arizona, a bill that imposes restrictions on early and e-mail voting is likely to reach the government. Doug Ducey
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Both states have important sporting events on the horizon, as did Georgia. The Super Bowl is scheduled for Glendale, Arizona, in 2023, and Miami is set to host part of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The intensified debate is not just about capturing state-based companies that are considering new voting laws.
Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, said his company is concerned about Georgia’s election law after deciding to “invest substantially in Atlanta” by buying land for new offices.
“It simply came to our notice then. First, the right to vote is the most precious aspect of democracy. And second, this new law has important provisions that unfairly restrict people’s right to vote legally, safely and securely, ”Smith wrote in a block publication, noting that the company raised concerns with legislation before it became law.
Business criticism nationwide comes five years after North Carolina faced a significant backlash over enacting its so-called bathroom law targeting transgender people. According to a 2017 Associated Press analysis, the state lost more than $ 3.76 billion in business as major companies refused to build or expand in the state and canceled concerts and the big sporting events.
Few companies have taken similar action in Georgia, though the announcement of Major League Baseball on Friday could motivate others to follow suit.
“The most proactive action as a company … is to go out now and say, ‘Look. We’re against a policy in any state that doesn’t meet those basic criteria, or we expect any voting policy to be X-like.’ ”Said Daniella Ballou-Aares, CEO of the Leadership Now Project, a consortium of more than 300 business and academic leaders working to promote democratic reforms.
Ballou-Aares, who worked in the State Department during the Obama administration, said employers still have more pressure to do something when the legislation is in their home state.
“Companies have always been concerned about their employees and we have seen companies engage for a long time in issues relevant to their local employees,” Ballou-Aares said.
In Georgia, both Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey and Delta CEO Ed Bastian considered the vote bill “unacceptable,” but only after boycotting the threats.
Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams he called corporate America’s responses were “stuffed” and said it was “deeply disappointed” that many would not speak out until the bill was signed, not while it was opening up to the state legislature.
Forrer said these wrong steps can be avoided.
“It is natural for activists to try to target those corporations that are narrower in trying to turn on the heat. So, companies have to start anticipating taking positions on issues because they are being pressured more and more, ”he said.
Some state leaders seemed to welcome the struggle with their corporate critics.
This week, Republicans in Georgia took a hit in Delta pass an invoice in the State House to repeal a tax rebate on aircraft fuel.
When asked this week about the business reaction, the governor of Georgia. Brian Kemp
Brian KempTrump calls for boycott of MLB to move All-Star Game House Republican to MLB “absolutely pathetic” for moving All-Star Game Warnock: MLB decision “unfortunate” consequence of Georgia law (R) said CNBC is “happy to deal with it.”