Thursday, May 31, 2007
WHAT'S NEW IN PUBLIC AFFAIRS
WHAT'S NEW IN PUBLIC AFFAIRS Given the concern in Congress about requiring lobbyists to report campaign contribution bundling, one would have expected a split decision on the House's lobbying reform bill. But, remember, this is Washington, where major controversies can suddenly become 396-to-22 votes when the roll is called. Check out the New York Times' summary of the bill in our opening story. Now that we're well past the Democrats' first 100 days, a number of major legislative issues are emerging, including immigration, climate change and trade. Each has huge implications for the business community. And before you make another global business decision, be sure to read how CSR programs can help companies mitigate risk. These stories and more in this edition of the Public Affairs News Monitor.
HEADLINES AT A GLANCE
"House Lifts Veil Over Donations From Lobbyists"
"In the Democratic Congress, Pork Still Gets Served"
"A 'Troubled' Immigration Reform Proposal"
"Corporate Concern on Climate Rises"
"Troops for the Trade Deal"
"Latin-America: Anti-corruption--Another Stab at Integrity"
"Risk Management Requires Legal and Compliance Officers to Focus on Corporate Social Responsibility"
"Political Device Goes Corporate"
"Niche Groups Use Web to Gain Ear of '08 Contenders"
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"House Lifts Veil Over Donations From Lobbyists"
New York Times (05/25/07) P. A17; Kirkpatrick, David D.
In a 396-to-22 vote, House lawmakers passed a lobbying reform bill that will force registered lobbyists to disclose their participation in bundling contributions for election campaigns. The legislation was initially opposed by business-friendly Democrats and African-American and Hispanic lawmakers worried about their ability to generate campaign contributions in lower-income districts; but most voted in favor of the bill, according to observers, so as not to appear against transparency. The bill would offer "an unprecedented level of disclosure--both in quantity and quality--on the interactions between lobbyists and legislators," says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. However, lobbyists are disappointed that the legislation forces only registered lobbyists--not lawyers, industry executives, and others who bundle--to make disclosures. The legislation also will lengthen lobbyists' quarterly disclosures to include bundling, as well as gifts or meals given to lawmakers, and strengthen penalties for those who do not adhere to the disclosure rules. Washington attorney Marc Elias, who represents lobbyists and lawmakers, says: "It's a transfer of liability for the violation of the House and Senate gift rules from the members and staff to the lobbyists."(www.nytimes.com)
"In the Democratic Congress, Pork Still Gets Served"
Washington Post (05/24/07) P. A1; Solomon, John; Birnbaum, Jeffrey H.
Restrictions in the congressional appropriations process against lawmakers securing funding for their pet causes can be circumvented via "phonemarking," despite Democrats' pledge to reduce such earmarks by 50 percent and require legislators to reveal their requests and certify that the requested money will not benefit them or their spouses financially. Democrats themselves are already bending their new rules: for example, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. David R. Obey (D-Wis.) announced plans to exclude earmark requests from pending spending bills, at least for the present, noting that the committee will deal with them at the conclusion of the appropriations cycle. Republicans are appalled, with Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) warning that, "As bad as the earmark process is now, this would make it immensely worse." Seasoned appropriations watchdogs say the Democratic Congress has been crafting language creatively to conceal some earmarks or to generate a semblance of non-special-interest spending transpiring. "Absolutely nothing has changed," asserts Winslow T. Wheeler of the Center for Defense Information. "The rhetoric has changed but not the behavior, and the behavior has gotten worse in the sense that while they are pretending to reform things, they are still groveling in the trough." (www.washingtonpost.com)
"A 'Troubled' Immigration Reform Proposal"
Business Week (05/18/07); Woellert, Lorraine; Javers, Eamon
Republicans and Democrats alike are criticizing the proposed immigration-reform legislation that President Bush and the Senate unveiled on May 17. Even union leaders, corporate executives, and pro-immigration groups have found fault with the legislation, with each group pointing to different areas of the bill that they would like to change. For example, technology executives are happy that the bill increases the number of temporary work visas, but they also have concerns that the bill will do nothing for speeding up the process of giving citizenship to skilled workers. Meanwhile, union leaders are unhappy with the whole concept of allowing unskilled workers to enter the United States on a temporary basis. "All workers know that temporary workers depress wages and create a second-class workforce," said a representative of the Service Employees International Union. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) expressed concerns about the proposal and called for the bill to be improved, while GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) also criticized the bill, with Grassley claiming that the legislation was created outside "the democratic processes of Congress."(www.businessweek.com)
"Corporate Concern on Climate Rises"
Christian Science Monitor (05/16/07); Trumbull, Mark
Corporate executives continue to shift gears in support of environmentally friendly legislation from caps on emissions to greenhouse gas emission reduction programs. The shift has been gradual, according to experts, but legislative measures to stave off further environmental deterioration are likely to take time and continued support from the business community and the public at large. Much of the transition can be attributed to a solidified scientific community regarding the presence of global warming and how it came to be, but others note that businesses are on the cusp of their next business venture to create profitable products and services to improve the environment and stave off further damage. Legislation, however, that could cut into business operations or increase costs is still likely to face opposition from the business community, which is why many firms are mobilizing before legislation is written in stone. Current proposals under discussion would create a cap-and-trade program for emissions, which would be reduced across the economy. Automobile fuel economy is another topic of debate, along with possible taxes on fossil fuels and incentives for greater fuel efficiency in buildings and appliances. Moreover, lawmakers are interested in how the government and businesses could fund additional research to create "clean" technologies. However, many of these proposals could favor certain industries over others--depending on their fuel sources and other factors--and this gap could incite legislative battles and watered-down policies, according to critics.(www.csmonitor.com)
"Troops for the Trade Deal"
National Journal (05/26/07) Vol. 39, No. 21, P. 45; Caruso, Lisa
Business lobbyists and K Street trade proponents are preparing to support a new bipartisan accord on trade policy that would set up standards on labor, intellectual-property rights, the environment, access to generic medicines, international investment, worker retraining, and port security. The Bush administration and congressional negotiators will render the agreement into implementing language to be inserted into the text of pending trade deals with South Korea, Colombia, Peru, and Panama. "We need to have more Democratic business lobbyists talking to Democratic members and staff," reported Parven Pomper Schuyler President Scott Parven. "We need to provide a substantive counterpoint to activists on the left who are banging members over the head saying this is a terrible deal, when in fact this is a great deal for Democrats." Lobbyists affiliated with several business coalitions plan to accelerate their meetings on Capitol Hill now that language exists to ease consideration of the pending trade agreement. A Democratic lobbyist noted that K Street advocates of the deal are working in conjunction with the New Democrat Coalition to get the support of unsure Democrats.(www.nationaljournal.com)
"Latin-America: Anti-corruption--Another Stab at Integrity"
Ethical Corporation (05/04/07); Balch, Oliver
Brazilian businesses have created their own private-sector pact to battle corruption. Nestle, Alcoa, and over 300 other private companies have pledged to adopt a "zero tolerance" attitude toward corruption. The Pact for Integrity and Against Corruption, launched in 2006, requires participating companies to create internal systems facilitating a graft-free environment. So far, most companies have revised their codes of conduct, but only a few have developed strict controls. Moreover, participating businesses have yet to open their records for external confirmation of their anti-corruption efforts, though auditing firms may be used in the future. The pact also hopes to employ existing Brazilian on-pack labeling systems and name-and-shame methods to mobilize consumers. A graft-free logo on products and a public Web site where consumers could expose instances of corporate abuse would incorporate the public in the fight against corruption. In addition, sectoral co-operation would go a long way toward increasing the transparency of processes such as public tendering.(www.ethicalcorp.com)
"Risk Management Requires Legal and Compliance Officers to Focus on Corporate Social Responsibility"
Metropolitan Corporate Counsel (05/07) Vol. 15, No. 5, P. 24
Corporate Integrity Strategy Director Michael Levin of Integrity Interactive says that large global companies today are more publicly entwined in the national lives of people compared with companies 50 years ago, and so have to face more social responsibilities. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a policy framework enabling companies to identify all the stakeholders involved in large decisions. CSR involves navigating decisions and mitigating risks. In general, companies face six major risks: destruction of shareholder value, disruption of executive management, distraction of staff, diminution of brand and corporate image, disruption of the supply chain, and deterioration of customer relationships. It is important to consider all six risk categories when making important global business decisions. When a company lands in the newspapers over a controversy, it likely is because the firm did not consider every stakeholder involved through a CSR policy. Convincing executives to invest in CSR initiatives will require advocates to show executives how CSR investments will pay off in the 21st century business landscape. (www.lawrencesavell.com/publications/metropolitancc/metropolitan.htm )
"Political Device Goes Corporate"
Wall Street Journal (05/21/07) P. A6; McKinnon, John D.
Campaign strategies for selling political candidates are moving back into the corporate world, where many of them began as marketing techniques. "Microtargeting," for example, was co-opted by the political world to find new voters by analyzing massive amounts of data regarding voters' spending habits and demographics. Political strategists refined the technique, using it to determine which issues voters care about, as well as voters' emotional triggers. Sara Taylor, a White House political director and former campaign strategist, sees a "big future" for using these data-centric methods to help businesses assess their potential customers' feelings about products or services. Exploiting customers' motivations can backfire, however, as customers can be alienated by negative messages. Businesses must also be careful to ensure that all claims stay within legal limits of validity. Another political element being used is the concept of a campaign's volunteer network, which inspired a group of 2004 campaign veterans to form a business that will develop social networks around brands and products as a non-traditional supplement to mass marketing.(www.wsj.com)
"Niche Groups Use Web to Gain Ear of '08 Contenders"
Christian Science Monitor (05/29/07) P. 1; Sabar, Ariel
Niche organizations are using the Internet to draw the attention of 2008 presidential candidates. As one example of the pull such groups have, four Democratic 2008 contenders have in recent weeks recorded videos clarifying their positions on the war in Iraq for Democracy for America. "The advantage for us is we get smarter about the candidates and ... a certain access without having to spend a gazillion dollars," notes Democracy for America Chairman Jim Dean, brother of 2004 presidential contender Howard Dean, whose campaign was largely funded by Web-based activism. "The advantage for the candidates is, this is a constituency and [potentially] also a great source of help on their campaign." TechPresident.com co-founder Andrew Rasiej says campaigns will be better positioned if they "turn themselves inside out and realize the campaigns are being run by the voters and not by them." Unorganized voters and other people who cannot pay the price tag that usually affords an audience with a politico can nevertheless gain the ear of lawmakers through new technologies, such as live Webcasts.(www.csmonitor.com)
