Election Day 2022: Good (and Some Bad) News for State Corporate Power Politics

Big tech antagonists did well, but so did megadeal boosters

Big Tech antagonists won big in attorneys general races. So did all of the governors who have been promoting major corporate subsidy deals in recent months won their reelection races, lending more evidence to the already existing heap of it that massive corporate handouts can be potent political tools....

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Election Day 2022: Good (and Some Bad) News for State Corporate Power Politics

An Ethics of Refusal

Beyond “The Great Resignation”

In the United States, we live in a country where someone who works for a law firm that services Big Oil is by and large considered intelligent and successful, maybe even ethical due to their pro bono representation, no matter that such a firm, for instance, did not represent foreclosure ...
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An Ethics of Refusal

The “Transferable” Subsidy Scam

Meet a big, under-the-radar problem

It’s a mess, is what I’m saying. But making a corporate subsidy transferable is an easy thing to do under the radar, without folks knowing what it means or realizing what their state is in for when such a policy is actually implemented. ...

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The “Transferable” Subsidy Scam

Corporate Subsidies Exposed by Georgia Judge

The state made big promises in a deal with an electric car manufacturer

Subsidy deals almost always necessitate new obligations on behalf of taxpayers to provide services to the corporation’s physical grounds and its future workers. But the costs of those services — be they increased water and power usage, public safety, infrastructure degradation, environmental costs, or what have you — are not ...
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Corporate Subsidies Exposed by Georgia Judge

A Texas-Sized Battle in 2023

Corporate interests won’t let one of the nation’s worst handouts go without a fight

Last year, a bipartisan coalition unexpectedly blocked the renewal of Chapter 313 in the Texas Statehouse. Come the end of this year, it will cease to exist as a program — and corporate interests are gearing up to campaign to bring it back when the Texas legislature reconvenes at the ...
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A Texas-Sized Battle in 2023

3 Ways Congress Could End the State Subsidy Wars

Don’t hold your breath, though

Though most of the time I write about how state and city leaders and community members can combat the scourge of corporate subsidies themselves, in theory, Congress could swoop in and knock the whole thing off, stopping states from engaging in this race to the bottom. Here are three ways ...
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3 Ways Congress Could End the State Subsidy Wars

Don’t Let Hospitals Off the Hook

The FTC has a warning for state lawmakers about hospital mergers

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, ...
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Don’t Let Hospitals Off the Hook

Stopped on the Tracks

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

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 ...
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Stopped on the Tracks

Seriously, What’s the Matter With Kansas?

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

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 ...
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Seriously, What’s the Matter With Kansas?

Amazon’s Secret Utility Discount

The growing tendency of corporations hiding details of their subsidy deals

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 ...
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Amazon’s Secret Utility Discount