Pat Garofalo, Author at Public Seminar

Corporations

Don’t Let Hospitals Off the Hook

The FTC has a warning for state lawmakers about hospital mergers

August 24, 2022 • by Pat Garofalo

Hospital monopolies are some of the most pernicious out there, because their harms don’t just manifest as higher prices, lower wages, reduced privacy, or slower business formation, but in the midst of literal life and death events. Anything, including these COPA laws, that greases the skids for more hospital monopolies, ...

Corporations

Stopped on the Tracks

Why a proposed railroad merger could be bad news for local communities

August 8, 2022 • by Pat Garofalo

Given the concerns locals have about what the merger would mean for their own backyard, as well as legitimate larger issues with what it would mean for the rail system as a whole to experience even more consolidation than has been allowed already, I’m certainly on team “stop this merger ...

Corporations

Seriously, What’s the Matter With Kansas?

The new Panasonic and Kansas deal could result in low-pay and no-benefit jobs

August 2, 2022 • by Pat Garofalo

But in any deal, and particularly one of this size, at a bare minimum lawmakers should demand concrete promises on jobs and pay, not vague totals and hopes and prayers that a corporation will hire workers rather than automate its processes. Panasonic could absolutely hit its payroll total with a ...

Seriously, What’s the Matter With Kansas?

Corporations

Amazon’s Secret Utility Discount

The growing tendency of corporations hiding details of their subsidy deals

July 25, 2022 • by Pat Garofalo

Amazon also may have applied for a discount on the new facility’s power, but the relevant governing body—the New York Power Authority (NYPA)—refuses to either confirm or deny if Amazon submitted an application.This is the latest example of a troubling trend: noncompliance with public records law, in order to hide details of corporate ...

Politics

The Big Box Sales Tax Scam

Slapping a cap on Missouri’s handout is a very simple fix

July 18, 2022 • by Pat Garofalo

Auditor is an office I imagine most folks don’t think about very much—even though auditors are elected in 24 states—but having a good one in Missouri has made a tangible difference in at least getting good information out that folks can act upon....

Corporations

Camden Wants Answers

Did billions of public dollars create jobs for New Jersey workers?

July 1, 2022 • by Pat Garofalo

Did billions of public dollars create jobs for New Jersey workers?...

Corporations

Semiconductor Subsidy Doom Loop

There’s an ugly state-federal feedback loop happening

June 13, 2022 • by Pat Garofalo

That doom loop is happening because Congress is dangling large federal semiconductor subsidies out there, but hasn’t approved them yet, and states want those funds to land within their borders, so are spending a lot all by themselves in the hopes that it will lead to an even bigger payoff....

Corporations

Meet A Corrupt Company Town

Anaheim is a prime example of the nexus between corporate subsidies and public corruption

June 3, 2022 • by Pat Garofalo

Communities can take on the Amazons and Disneys of the world and win. We all just need to share the resources and tactics that make those wins possible....

Corporations

The Future of DC’s Antitrust Fight With Amazon

State attorneys general can challenge the damaging practices of the largest corporations in America

May 27, 2022 • by Pat Garofalo

Last year, Karl Racine, the attorney general for Washington, D.C., sued Amazon under the District’s antitrust laws. And his case was a novel one. While Amazon in the American zeitgeist is associated with low prices, Racine alleged that Amazon was actually using restrictive and unfair agreements with its third-party sellers ...

The Future of DC’s Antitrust Fight With Amazon

Politics

Maine Took on Big Box Stores, and Won

A blow to the “dark store theory” scam is a win for taxpayers

May 9, 2022 • by Pat Garofalo

Big retailers have launched an effort to promulgate dark store theory because they have the time and resources for a long fight that pays off in the long term, unlike the communities that are seeing property tax revenues plummet in the here and now....

Economy

Parking Meter Monopoly Malfeasance

Chicago reveals the perils of non-competes in infrastructure projects.

April 27, 2022 • by Pat Garofalo

A group of Chicago drivers earlier this month filed an appeal in an antitrust lawsuit they brought, which alleges that a deal the city made to privatize its parking meters for 75 years constitutes an illegal monopoly. They want the court to give the city the power to cancel the agreement outright, ...

Corporations

Dueling Secret Deals

Kansas and Oklahoma: So many NDAs, so many corporate handouts, so little time

April 22, 2022 • by Pat Garofalo

Back in February, Kansas legislators approved a $1.2 billion corporate subsidy package for an as-yet-still unnamed corporation. Many members of the legislature signed non-disclosure agreements preventing them from divulging the proposed recipient of that taxpayer largesse. Events this week show why the corporation in question hasn’t come out from behind the curtain in ...