Fairness Project
The Fairness Project is a United States 501 charitable organization created in October 2015. They promote general economic and social justice throughout the US by the use of ballot measures to circumvent deadlocks in law changes by the legislative and executive branches of government. They act as a national body by supporting state organizations and campaigns with targeted funding rather than by direct campaigning. They support the gathering of signatures to meet the variable requirements to trigger ballots in states and then aid the campaigns with early financial backing, strategic advice, and various campaign tools.
The Project seeks to raise state minimum wages, both through stepped annual increases and through elimination of the tip credit exemption. It has expanded Medicaid coverage and provided funding in the most expensive ballot campaigns ever fought. Usually alongside their other campaigns, the Fairness Project has supported improving paid sick leave coverage. Following Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the Project has also supported legalizing abortion via statewide ballot initiatives. The Project has supported 17 proposals in total, of which 16 have passed. Concerns have arisen about the lack of transparency of non-state organizations like the Fairness Project influencing local decisions.
History
The Fairness Project was created in Washington, D.C., on 22 October 2015 in the immediate run-up to the 2016 US presidential election. It is funded by SEIU United Healthcare Workers West, a California health care workers union. One of the major dispute points between Democratic and Republican candidates had been the issue of whether to raise the federal minimum wage, set at $7.25 for most employees as of 2019. The federal minimum wage was set in 2009 and therefore real-term values have dropped significantly since then; with no confirmed prospect of a federal increase, states gradually became pressured to raise their own minimum wage values. However, there were also deadlocks within state governments, both within state legislatures and between the legislature and governors, which has led to an increasing number of local initiatives exercising their rights to place proposals for statewide ballots to institute legislative change via direct democracy.The founding executive director, Ryan Johnson, had volunteered to aid a number of these initiatives in 2015, before realizing that there was nationwide interest in increased usage. This led to the creation of the Project as a coordinating nonprofit organization that could fundraise on a broader campaign structure, educate electorates of their ballot rights, and focus financial and volunteer support where it was most needed. The initial focus was to use SEIU United Healthcare Workers West's strategy of placing ballot initiatives on minimum wage in the 24 states that allow initiatives.
Minimum wage increases
2016 ballots
The Fairness Project's focus for 2016 was a campaign to improve minimum wages. The campaign initially focused on three regions: Maine, California, and Washington, D.C., whose 2015 minimum wages were $7.50, $9.00, and $10.50 respectively. This provided a geographical mix and many difficulties – it was believed that while Washington and Maine would prove to be viable campaigns due to previous local votes for higher city minimum wages, California would pose a greater challenge due to a coalition of business interests that had killed the increase in the state legislature.The proposed motions in Washington and California were fairly similar: they sought to implement an immediate small increase with additional annual graduated increases, leading to $15 in both states by 2020 and 2021 respectively. The target of the campaign in Maine was $12 by 2020 – a comparable increase to the other proposals.
All three proposals were initially successful by gathering the minimum number of required signatures: 365,880 for California, 23,200 for Washington, D.C.; and 60,000 in Maine. In Washington and California, support for the proposals placed pressure on the city and state governments, which caused both states to implement legislation equivalent to that in the initiatives; as a result, the proposals were withdrawn. In Maine the vote proceeded and was approved by 55.5% of the voters. After the vote there was a smaller campaign to reinstate the restaurant tip credit rule where tips could make up to 50% of staff wages, which would lower the effective minimum wage., restrictions on using tip credit were not being enforced.
As the campaigns proved to be successful, the Project expanded their support to local initiatives in the states of Colorado, Washington, and Arizona. The proposals for Colorado and Arizona also sought to raise the minimum wage to $12 by 2020, from $8.31 and $8.05 respectively. Washington, which already had certain areas with higher base wages, such as Seattle, settled on targeting $15.00 from $9.47 by 2020.
These additional propositions all remained on the ballot and were approved by their electorates.
2018 ballots
In 2018, the Project made additional efforts to support local groups advocating minimum wage ballots. This support was focused in Missouri, where, together with the National Employment Law Center, a combined $537,500 was donated by advocacy groups; as well as Arkansas. Financial assistance was also granted in Michigan, where the proposal only narrowly satisfied the requirements one day before the deadline.The Missouri ballot proposal aimed to increase the minimum wage from $8.60 to $12.00 by 2023 and eliminate the tip credit allowance. The Michigan proposal sought to raise the minimum wage from $7.70 to $12.00 by 2022 for everyone except government workers. Both ballots were voted on at the 6 November 2018 elections. Missouri voted in favour with a 61% majority. Michigan's legislature passed equivalent measures that removed the initiative from the ballot; these measures were repeatedly accused of enabling easier future amendments, as ballot-proposed law would require a three-quarters super-majority of each house to overrule.
The Arkansas proposal was a pure minimum wage setup crafted by David Crouch. It aimed to increase immediately from $8.50 to $9.25, with stepped annual increments ultimately to $11.00. The Fairness Project donated $100,000, functionally all on the signature-gathering stage. The proposal passed with 68% of votes in favour and was implemented.
Medicaid coverage extension
2017 ballots
Starting in 2017, the Fairness Project redirected their primary focus to expanding Medicaid coverage, a joint state and federal program that covers some medical costs for those with few financial resources. A Supreme Court ruling in 2012 declares that states do not have to utilize the provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that expand Medicaid coverage, which requires legislation to increase the number of individuals receiving Medicaid assistance.The first campaign in 2017 offered support by the Project was in Maine where there was strong support to expand Medicaid. The Fairness Project donated $375,000 to aid both the campaigns to have the proposal meet signature requirements and then campaign for its passing. The proposal met the requirements to be added to the ballot and passed with 59% voting in favor. However, Maine law gave the power to Governor Paul LePage to veto passed ballot proposals, which he used seven times, stating that he " go to jail before put the state in red ink". He argued that a clear funding stream must be designated and in place before he would approve the law. The state house voted in favour of implementing the proposal, 85 to 58, but failed to gather the two-thirds majority needed to override. Janet Mills, succeeding Lepage, signed an executive order implementing the change.
2018 ballots
In 2018, the Project expanded their support to three similar proposals in Nebraska, Utah, and Idaho. As of July 2018, the Utah proposal had satisfied conditions to be voted on in the November elections. The proposals of Nebraska and Idaho also submitted a number of signatures they believed to satisfy ballot requirements, and despite challenges on verification, the proposals were accepted.The Project's support was important in gathering the signatures in Nebraska where $338,000 was spent to support the campaign – making up 93% of the pre-ballot spending. Further spending in favour of a yes vote dramatically escalated, with the Project providing over 90% of the $919,000 total campaign expenditure in Nebraska by May. Support in Idaho was comparatively lower in size and proportion, though still significant, with expenditure slightly over half a million dollars, making up 50% of proposal expenditure. Support also needed to be more focused due to a [|harder signature process] in Idaho than most ballot states.
The ballots were successful in all three states. Idaho approved the ballot with a 61% majority, but the campaigns were tighter in Nebraska and Utah with a bare 53% vote share. The Fairness Project remained the primary donor in the three races, spending a total of over $6,000,000. Funding shares remained fairly even – with the most controversial remaining the near-90% share of the Nebraska campaign budget.
The Project failed for the first time at the 2018 Medicaid ballots. A Montana ballot motioned to extend the previously temporary expanded Medicaid provision and failed to pass. The ballot set a record for the most expensive campaign ever fought in the US, due to the funding provisions of the proposal, which placed additional taxes on tobacco products. As well as significant funding from the Project and other like-minded donors in favour, the tobacco industry spent $17,000,000 campaigning in opposition. After a failed vote, a compromised version of the Medicaid expansion was passed in April by the Montana legislature to extend coverage until 2025.