• How to set objectives and analyze the advocacy landscape
• Effective audience engagement and message development skills
• Strategies for leveraging digital platforms for advocacy
• How to build and sustain coalitions
• Ways to remain flexible and responsive in your campaign strategy
• Methods to evaluate impact and reflect on the campaign

Download Plural’s advocacy strategy guide today!

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Vote Mama Lobby is dedicated to transforming the political landscape for moms. Its team advocates to break the institutional barriers moms face in running for and serving in office, and gives voice to the solutions that allow everyday families to thrive.  Vote Mama Foundation is a leading non-partisan 501(c)(3) entity that provides research and analysis […]

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In an era of accelerating regulation, geopolitical uncertainty, and rising stakeholder expectations, the margin for error in corporate governance has never been thinner. For senior leaders — CEOs, GCs, COOs, and Chief Risk Officers — ensuring that their legal, compliance, and government relations (GR) teams are equipped to respond quickly and strategically is essential. Enter […]

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What I Learned from Working at a Startup Company as a College Student

By Jay Oliveira My time at Plural has been transformative.  As a third-year policy student at Suffolk University in Boston, I had already spent hours pouring over legislative websites for my coursework. I struggled to use legislative sources that would open up dozens of unreadable files, or would make it unclear what chamber the bill […]

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The post Advocacy Strategy Guide appeared first on Plural Policy.

Hill Days are pivotal moments for public policy, advocacy, and nonprofit teams. They offer a unique opportunity to communicate the needs, concerns, and stories that matter most to your mission. These key days help teams shape legislative decisions and cultivate relationships with lawmakers.

Plural’s Hill Day Planning Guide: Tips and Tricks

In this guide, you’ll learn tips and tricks for: 

• Preparing for your Hill Day
• Executing a successful Hill Day
• Hill Day follow-up
• How to use Plural for your Hill Day

Download the hill day planning guide today!

Using Plural for Hill Day Planning

Incorporating Plural into your Hill Day can revolutionize your advocacy efforts. Plural offers real-time insights into legislative developments, helping you to identify key legislators, understand their voting histories, and track bills that impact your cause. This intelligence allows you to tailor your messages, prioritize meetings and relationships, and present compelling, data-driven arguments.

How to Use Plural for Hill Day Planning

1. Legislative Insights: Utilize Plural to gain deep insights into the legislative landscape. Understanding the status, history, and potential impact of relevant bills can inform your strategy and messaging.
2. Targeted Outreach: Identify and prioritize lawmakers who are most likely to be influenced by your advocacy. Plural can help you target those with a history of supporting or expressing interest in your issues.
3. Customized Briefings: Create personalized briefing packets for your team using Plural’s data. Highlight key legislative concerns, lawmaker positions, and strategic talking points.
4. Follow-up Strategy: After your Hill Day, use Plural to track any legislative changes or follow-up actions taken by lawmakers. Plural enables you to tailor your post-event communications and strengthen your advocacy efforts.

Create a free account or book a demo today!

The post Guide to Hill Day Planning appeared first on Plural Policy.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) refers to efforts made by organizations to create environments that value and respect differences among individuals. Over past last twenty years, there has been rapid growth in DEI investment. This is especially true within the past decade. Increased focus on DEI has primarily occurred in the private sector. However, public entities are increasingly considering DEI principles as well.

The growth of DEI policies has attracted the attention of lawmakers. Democrats have led the movement towards incorporating DEI principles into the public sector. At the same time, Conservatives have begun to push for the restriction of the use of DEI in certain settings.

Using Plural’s unmatched open data, we analyzed DEI legislation across the United States in 2023. We sought to better understand where and how this legislative trend is taking shape.

Trends in DEI Policy in 2023

In 2023, legislators considered 146 bills that proposed changes to DEI policy. These bills spanned 36 states and U.S. Congress. Eighty of such bills sought to expand the use of DEI policies. On the other hand, 66 bills proposed to restrict or eliminate the use of DEI in certain settings.

Get Started With Plural

Plural will continue to track this developing policy trend. As new developments arise, we’ll report on the progress made by both sides.

Interested in getting started with Plural? Create a free account or book a demo today!

The post DEI Legislation Tracker: DEI Policy Developments in 2023 appeared first on Plural Policy.

Over the past fifteen years, increased focus has been paid to global trade, sustainability, and climate change. In response, many corporations have implemented policies that better assess and mitigate the negative impacts of their operations. At the same time, governments have further regulated corporate responsibilities and reporting requirements. The result of these actions is a policy environment that can feel impossible to navigate. This is true for businesses and consumers alike.

These policies are environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies, or corporate governance policies. The ESG landscape is vast. Any one corporation could be subject to a plethora of overlapping regulations, including:

• Private regulations (business groups
• Semi-private regulations (regulated stock exchanges
• Public regulations (governments at the local, national, and regional levels)

Navigating this legislative environment can be difficult. There’s significant regional variation in attitudes towards ESG policies by policymakers and consumers. Corporate governance policy in the U.S., for example, has been far more market-led than in Europe. In Europe, the European Union and national governments have driven policy forward.

The Plural team analyzed new developments in ESG policy to better understand this rapidly changing field. We examined more than 30 policies across nine countries, spanning the European Union and the African Union. In this report, we detailed the patterns we discovered in each region. Additionally, we laid out notable trends that could influence the development of ESG policy.

Global ESG Policy in Africa, Europe, and the United States

Africa

Africa holds a unique position in global ESG, supply chain, and corporate governance discussions, impacted significantly by European business activities. Both European and African authorities are intensifying legislative efforts to enhance transparency and corporate responsibility. In Nigeria, recent laws aim to standardize corporate governance and ESG policies, while South Africa encourages ESG disclosure for listed companies and emphasizes sustainable investments and social equality. The African Union’s ongoing study is expected to expand ESG regulations continent-wide, promoting standardized corporate governance.

Europe

Over the past fifteen years, the European Union has significantly shaped global corporate governance policies. Recent key legislations and directives include the Shareholder Rights Directive (2014), ensuring shareholders’ rights and reducing short-termism; the General Data Protection Regulation (2018), a stringent privacy law; the European Green Deal (2020) and the European Climate Law (2021), both fostering the green transition and aiming for climate neutrality by 2050; the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (2023), mandating ESG performance disclosure; and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (2025), promoting proactive measures in human rights and environmental impacts. These policies have global ramifications, influencing corporate governance worldwide, and serving as a blueprint for other countries on matters ranging from environmental impact to supply chain monitoring.

United States

In the U.S., ESG policy is characterized by Congressional gridlock and varying state trends, contrasting the global trend of steady ESG progress. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, passed in late 2021, represents a rare consensus, prohibiting imports produced with forced labor, especially from China’s Xinjiang region. Broader ESG efforts in Congress are stagnant, though the Biden administration has promoted ESG through regulatory channels. State actions on ESG are polarized, with 11 states introducing pro-ESG legislation and 37, generally more conservative states, introducing anti-ESG legislation in 2023. This divergence complicates compliance for companies operating nationwide. Notably, California has passed stringent laws requiring extensive ESG disclosures from large companies.

Notable Trends in Global ESG Policy

This research identifies crucial ESG regulation trends, providing foresight into global developments:

1. Jurisdictional Expansion: ESG policies in Europe are spreading rapidly, with national precedents often adopted EU-wide. This is evident in supply chain due diligence and ESG reporting standards.
2. Organizational Expansion: ESG policies, initially targeting specific entities, are expanding to cover a wider range of organizations. The transition from the EU’s Non-Financial Reporting Directive to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive highlights this trend.
3. U.S. Backlash: The U.S. is experiencing significant pushback against ESG regulations, creating a growing divide between American and European corporate requirements. In 2023, 14 states enacted 22 anti-ESG bills, reflecting this trend and highlighting the potential compliance risks for businesses focusing on ESG in these regions.

Get Started With Plural

With Plural, discovering legislation on key topics and discerning trends is easier than ever. Create a free account or book a demo today!

The post Recent Trends in ESG and Corporate Governance Policy | Using Plural’s ESG Legislation Tracker appeared first on Plural Policy.

What is Critical Race Theory?

According to the Legal Defense Fund, Critical Race Theory (CRT) is “an academic and legal framework that denotes that systemic racism is part of American society — from education and housing to employment and healthcare. Critical Race Theory recognizes that racism is more than the result of individual bias and prejudice. It is embedded in laws, policies and institutions that uphold and reproduce racial inequalities.”

Laws Addressing Critical Race Theory

Three main trends are being seen across the country:

1. CRT is being prohibited from being taught in public educational institutions.
2. Books discussing race, racism, discrimination, and CRT are being banned.
3. An emphasis has been placed on the alleged psychological distress that being taught CRT causes. As such, legal action is encouraged.

Positive legislation refers to legislation supporting communities of color and increasing race-related content in curricula.

Negative legislation refers to legislation that harms communities of color and decreases race-related content in curricula.

Interested in learning more and seeing Samantha’s full analysis using Plural’s data?

The post Legislation Impacting Race and Education appeared first on Plural Policy.

Analyzing Voting Rights Legislation in 2023

Debates around voting rights have always been central to American political discourse. The 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries saw the expansion of the right to vote to religious minorities, people of color and women. However, the statutory right to vote was never the end goal for voting rights advocates. The civil rights movement, particularly the Voting Rights Act of 1965, drove our nation nearer to fair and equal democratic participation.

Policy impacting voting rights is a priority issue for state legislators, intensified by contentious national elections and imperfect systems.

The 2024 elections are quickly approaching. As of July 2023, state legislators have introduced 1,188 bills impacting voting rights. Eighty bills have made it through the legislative process to become law. Understanding this activity, including how and where it is playing out, is key to understanding democracy. We leveraged Plural’s data analyze legislation affecting voting rights and access so far in 2023.

In our analysis, we focused on legislation that expanded or limited access to vote. For example, legislation increasing early vote time is categorized as expanding, while legislation restricting mail-in voting is categorized as restricting. While important to monitor, legislation unrelated to the ability to vote, like bills that regulate ballot-counting devices, were not considered.

Looking Ahead to 2024

Following the 2020 elections, voting rights became a central issue in 2022 campaigns as well as the 2023 legislative sessions. As we approach another contentious national election in 2024, attention on voting policy will continue to grow. Plural is committed to analyzing the trends in this space to help the public understand our democratic processes. 

Get Started with Plural

Plural helps you get and stay ahead in the complex public policy landscape. With Plural, you can:

• Access superior public policy data
• Be the first to know about new bills and changes in bill status
• Streamline your day with seamless organization features
• Harness the power of AI to gain insights into individual bills and the entire legislative landscape
• Keep everyone on the same page with internal collaboration and external reporting all in one place

How Vote Mama Lobby Empowers Moms By Using Plural for Tracking Policy

Vote Mama Lobby is dedicated to transforming the political landscape for moms. Its team advocates to break the institutional barriers moms face in running for and serving in office, and gives voice to the solutions that allow everyday families to thrive.  Vote Mama Foundation is a leading non-partisan 501(c)(3) entity that provides research and analysis […]

READ MORE →

Here’s Why Leadership Wants Your GR, Legal & Compliance Teams to Use AI

In an era of accelerating regulation, geopolitical uncertainty, and rising stakeholder expectations, the margin for error in corporate governance has never been thinner. For senior leaders — CEOs, GCs, COOs, and Chief Risk Officers — ensuring that their legal, compliance, and government relations (GR) teams are equipped to respond quickly and strategically is essential. Enter […]

READ MORE →

What I Learned from Working at a Startup Company as a College Student

By Jay Oliveira My time at Plural has been transformative.  As a third-year policy student at Suffolk University in Boston, I had already spent hours pouring over legislative websites for my coursework. I struggled to use legislative sources that would open up dozens of unreadable files, or would make it unclear what chamber the bill […]

READ MORE →

The post Legislation Affecting Voting Rights and Access in 2023 appeared first on Plural Policy.

What is ESG Investing?

Environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) is an investment strategy involving the consideration of a company’s environmental impact, social impact and governance history. These considerations are used to determine whether and where they will invest funds. ESG is also referred to as socially responsible investing or sustainable investing.

Interest in ESG investing has grown in the private sector. As a result, many large investing firms have begun to offer information about the impact of investments. This offers flexibility for investors to put their money towards “better” investments. The European Union (EU) has been the epicenter of ESG investing. The EU has taken steps to improve corporate transparency and aid ESG. For example, the EU increased reporting requirements for financial firms and companies.

ESG Legislation and Regulation

Regulatory action on ESG investing in the United States had been sparse. However, there has been an increase in legislation on ESG investing. This growth has occurred at both the state and federal levels. The trend is driven by recent actions by the Biden administration as well as Republicans’ focus on the so-called “culture wars.”

Over two-thirds of U.S. state legislatures have considered anti-ESG legislation in 2023, and 14 states have enacted legislation restricting the use of ESG factors in public investments and procurements. On the other side of the debate, just one pro-ESG bill has become law and only 11 states have even considered such legislation. While consumer demand for ESG investing has grown, the data in this report shows a wave of anti-ESG legislation rising to challenge that trend. 

The Plural team sought to better understand legislation regarding ESG investing. To do so, we analyzed the 2023 legislative sessions of all 50 states, US Congress and Washington, DC. This data is up-to-date as of July 19, 2023.

Key Findings

ESG investing has become a prevalent topic of discussion in state legislatures across the country. Understanding the state-of-play in these debates will allow you to be better prepared for their next iterations.

Overall, it’s unclear how states will progress in this space as well as how new laws will impact our economy at-large. At Plural, we’re committed to increasing government transparency. This involves shedding light on laws under consideration and analyzing their impact on our communities.

The post ESG Legislation in the First Six Months of 2023 appeared first on Plural Policy.

It can be tempting to tie any legislative trend to a single event. However, mass shootings have become so common in the United States that it’s difficult to identify the exact motivation leading to legislation. According to the Gun Violence Archive, the U.S. is on track for over 600 mass shootings this year. 2023 will be the fourth straight year of this high rate of gun violence. With this violence, it’s safe to assume that a desire to save lives motivates much of this legislation.

Gun control laws are a mainstay within U.S. political discourse. Given this fact, the Plural team sought to examine gun control policy in the first half of 2023. We leveraged Plural’s legislative dataset, categorizing legislation according to whether it increased or decreased access to firearms.

Read the full report to see our analysis of legislation impacting access to firearms throughout the first six months of 2023.

Key Takeaways

Data on gun policy shows us how many of the trends of the past decade continue to play out. It should also remind us that state legislatures are constantly introducing and passing new policies.

States like Florida and Washington continue to trend toward opposite positions. At the same time, states like Utah, Michigan and Minnesota have proven to be factories of significant change. Understanding this continuing, heated debate requires an understanding of both the policy being introduced, which may set the conversation, and the policy being enacted, which will affect conditions in our communities.

The post Legislating Access to Firearms in 2023 appeared first on Plural Policy.

So far in 2023, the partisan divide over gender identity, especially within education and healthcare settings, has generated a significant increase in legislation impacting transgender and nonbinary communities.

The research team at Plural is committed to monitoring legislative trends throughout the country. As we analyzed the 2023 legislative sessions, we were particularly surprised by the volume of bills targeting transgender and nonbinary rights. We leveraged Plural’s legislative data to better understand this trend. The data presented in this report is up-to-date as of Monday, June 26, 2023.

The post Legislation Impacting Transgender and Nonbinary Rights and Visibility in 2023 appeared first on Plural Policy.