Employee Ownership Blog

NCEO

House Passes Bill That Would Limit Arbitration in ERISA Plans

By a vote of 220-205, the House passed the Mental Health Matters Act. Most of the bill would provide funds to expand access to mental health and substance abuse services for children and young adults but another provision would bar compulsory arbitration in all ERISA plans. Additionally, it would ban forced arbitration clauses, class action waivers, and discretionary clauses, and it would make representation waivers unenforceable. Participants can still agree to arbitration after a dispute arises, but only if:

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Corey Rosen

How the California Employee Ownership Act Became Law

The passage of the California Employee Ownership Act, the provisions of which I discussed in a recent blog post, has lessons for anyone wanting to move employee ownership forward in a state. We often think of legislation as the result of lobbying efforts by well-funded and/or politically connected groups. But the California Employee Ownership Act was the result of one employee ownership advocate calling one state legislator (Senator Josh Becker) and explaining the benefits of employee ownership in closing racial wealth and equity gaps in California. Senator Becker, coming from an entrepreneurial background, grasped the idea immediately and asked what he could do to promote more employee ownership in California. With his staff, he set up a meeting with a group of worker coop and ESOP advocates (including the NCEO) to come up with ideas. That group recruited additional supporters, and once the bill was drafted, these supporters lined up other supporters to contact their legislators (the NCEO was not involved in the lobbying part of this process). The bill moved through both houses without dissent. While the idea did not simply sell itself, it came pretty close.

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Loren Rodgers

The 2022 Fall ESOP Forum: Thank You!

The NCEO's Fall ESOP Forum was held in St. Louis last week, and we offer a huge thank-you to the people who joined us there and showed so much enthusiasm for making employee ownership thrive. It's always our fondest hope here at the NCEO that participants leave every NCEO event not simply with a new piece of information or a bunch of notes on corporate governance but instead with the ability and readiness to do something when you get home that you couldn't do before.

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Timothy Garbinsky

Project Equity Receives Prestigious Heinz Award

Hilary Abell and Alison Lingane, cofounders of employee ownership advocates Project Equity, have been named co-recipients of the Heinz Award. The program was launched in 1993 to honor late U.S. Senator John Heinz by awarding and recognizing achievement in areas that were important to him. This year's award sees prizes totaling $1.5 million being awarded to seven Americans in recognition of their contributions to the arts, economy, or the environment.

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Corey Rosen

New NCEO Guides to State and Federal Legislation Available

The NCEO now has comprehensive guides to active and pending state and federal legislation on our website. The articles will be updated as needed. The state guide summarizes all the state bills that have become law, including creating state employee ownership centers, tax incentives for a sale to an ESOP, and allowing certain professional firms to organize as ESOP companies. The document also summarizes significant active legislative efforts. Links to the bills are provided where available.

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