Municipal Legislative Activity
on Rise
It’s Not Just The States!
by Belinda Judson
Executive Director, Mid-States NATO
Many editions of this column have covered
the need to be aware of onerous proposed legislation – and
suggestions on how to lobby against such legislation.
Most often these
issues have been addressed on the state level. However,
we now want to call your attention to this disturbing trend:
We are seeing a marked increase in
legislative activities on the city level.
As we’ve noted before, the sheer
number of municipalities makes daunting the task of monitoring
all of them. It therefore
becomes vital that cinema operators are aware of what
is happening politically in the communities they serve.
We knew that cities, much like the
states, were facing budget shortfalls and that we would
be facing admissions
tax proposals in some municipalities. We definitely
are seeing some of those in cities such as Boston
and Alexandria,
Va.
But the same kind of thing is going
on in far smaller cities like Lehi, Utah, where officials
approved a
50-cent per-ticket
tax on a new theatre there to help pay for utilities,
infrastructure and other public improvements to service
the area. Newspaper
articles have stated that the probability of admissions
tax legislation being proposed in other cities is
looming as well.
However, taxes are not the only form
of legislation that we are seeing in the cities. The
city council
in Santa
Fe, N.M., approved an ordinance to require businesses
and non-profit organizations to pay workers a minimum
wage
of $8.50 per hour. While several local governments
around the country have already set their own minimum
wages
for workers with government contracts, Santa Fe’s
ordinance went beyond this to include all workers
not employed by
the government. The city of Boston has cell-phone
legislation pending and the community of Casper,
Wyo., has a proposed
ordinance regarding sexually oriented businesses.
As you can see, there is no shortage of issues
to vex us at the
city level.
The recommendation made in earlier
articles – the
one urging exhibitors to get involved with their communities – certainly
takes on more importance with increased legislative
activity. Make sure that you (or your employees)
get to know city
officials and become visible in the community
by serving on boards, joining service clubs and
working on charities.
Keep your ears to the ground regarding the issues
being discussed in city council meetings and
even attend some
when necessary.
It is also extremely important that
you contact your state/regional unit should you hear
of any
municipal
rumblings. The units
are there to help you with legislative matters
on the state and local level. Their experiences
on similar
issues in
other towns could be of great help to you when
fighting proposed legislation. And as the old
expression goes, “If
you don’t put in your two cents worth, how can you
expect change?” 
