Tar Heel Corporations Expand Influence Leading Into Midterms

Taxes, regulation, and health care will play central roles in the upcoming midterm elections — and North Carolina corporations want a say in how their employees view those issues. The Prosperity Project, a nationwide initiative spearheaded by a Washington, D.C.-based political action committee, helps them do that.

Corporate political influence always has been a touchy issue, but more so after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in January gave businesses the go-ahead to pump more cash into campaigns, a move that liberals argue pollutes the political process but conservatives say upholds free speech rights. This year, though, private enterprises are staking out new ways to influence political discourse that go far beyond campaign finance.

In early March, the N.C. Chamber of Commerce, in conjunction with the Business Industry Political Action Committee, unveiled a new voter-education Web site aimed at getting Tar Heel employers more involved in the electoral process. The goal is to educate staff better about government policies — ranging from health care to the environment to transportation — that impact the corporate bottom line.

“It’s all about empowering employees to make up their own minds,” said Sherry Melton, a spokeswoman for the chamber. “It’s about raising awareness that these issues do have a potential impact on work places and private-sector job providers.”

Project sponsors are quick to point out that the Prosperity Project’s content is nonpartisan, and chamber members aren’t forced to participate. Companies decide whether to make available the election material to their employees.

Dozens of Tar Heel companies already have opted to do so, with more in the pipeline, said BIPAC Senior Regional Vice President Joe Savarise. He declined to disclose a list of North Carolina-based companies involved.

“In most states where we have a mature program, where it’s been in place for a few years, there are several hundred companies across the state that are active participants,” he said.

Companies aren’t required to announce their participation, but some have made their offerings available to the public. The fertilizer producer PCS Phosphate in Aurora, N.C., maintains a public Web site focused on mining and the environment.

Nationwide, the Prosperity Project garnered 107 million Web page views and 1.2 million voter registration downloads in 2008. BIPAC claims that a majority of the largest 100 employers in the country use the initiative to communicate with their employees, retirees, and shareholders.

While the project side-steps partisan politics, it doesn’t shy away from advocating positions favorable to business interests. North Carolina’s statewide Web site avoids candidate or political party endorsements, but it does advocate free-market options for health care reform, environmental regulation, and tax policy.

In addition, it encourages voters to contact elected officials about union-backed card check legislation, which it says throws “privacy safeguards right out the window.”

Beyond national and statewide issues, the Prosperity Project also tailors content to the needs of local industries. Business interests in Moore County, located southwest of the Triangle, partnered with the state chamber to launch a co-branded Web site focusing on topics specific to the community.

“It’s those local issues that matter just as much, or more, to these companies since it impacts their earning potential,” said Patrick Coughlin, president of the Moore County Chamber of Commerce. He pointed to planning ordinances as examples of policies that can affect profits more than state regulations.

“The micro-issues are large issues for us. Sometimes it’s just a change of zoning here or a change of zoning there,” Coughlin said.

BIPAC and the N.C. Chamber aren’t the only groups with a stake in industry-related issues gearing up for the midterms. The State Employees Association of North Carolina has hired three new political organizers to recruit members and promote the group’s public policy objectives leading up to November.

The focus isn’t always on issues, either. The Prosperity Project, for instance, provides basic information on government structure and how legislation becomes law. It also provides a portal for employees to register to vote and find out who represents them at the state and federal level.

The project steers clear of regulated advocacy activity by remaining nonpartisan, and it’s distinct from BIPAC’s expressly political advocacy efforts, Savarise said.

“The Prosperity Project doesn’t endorse candidates,” he said. “It might include information that shows who endorses the candidates in both sides of the ballot, but it wouldn’t endorse them itself.”

As to whether workers might feel pressured by their employers to vote in favor of the Prosperity Project’s positions, Melton said that’s something they want to avoid.

“The employers get to make the decision about whether their employees even see it,” she said.

David N. Bass is an associate editor of Carolina Journal.