Will the electoral changes in state and national government be good for business? Areas vote yes.
The country’s dramatic lurch to the right in November’s mid term elections is generally good news for the ski industry, say most observers.
One big exception to the rightward march was California, where Democrat Jerry Brown swept into the governor’s mansion, along with strong Democratic majorities in both houses. “We elected mostly Democrats out here,” says Bob Roberts, executive director of the California Ski Industry Association. “But I think Governor Brown will be more focused on solving California’s $20 billion structural deficit than doing harm to any industry.”
At the other extreme, Maine flipped from Democrat to Republican at the state level, led by millionaire businessman Paul LePage as governor. Greg Sweetser, executive director of Ski Maine, hopes the changes will get the state off Forbes Magazine’s list of “worst states to do business in.” Says Sweetser, “I absolutely think the election will make for a more pro-business climate. We are ready to grow. Many ski areas have expansion plans and shovel-ready projects.”
National Picture
At the national level, the Republican takeover of the House means a change in leadership of several key committees that affect public land ski resorts.
The chair of the House Natural Resources Committee will shift from a West Virginia Democrat to a Republican from Washington state. “It is favorable to have a western representative at the helm of this committee,” says Geraldine Link, director of public policy at NSAA. “There are no public land resorts in West Virginia.” In addition, the new chair of the National Parks Forests and Public Lands subcommittee, Rob Bishop, R-UT, “will be a vast improvement over the former chairman [an Arizona Democrat] who was not inclined to do anything positive for the ski industry,” Link says.
One top priority is revising last year’s massive health care reform law. “There is a lot of focus on the fairness of requirements for seasonal employers,” Link says. Even the definition of “seasonal,” which under the new law is 120 days, is being questioned. “What does that mean?” Link asks. “Consecutive days? We think that definition is too tight.”
The ski industry also wants to pass the summer activities bill, which would explicitly allow summer and year-round activity at resorts on forest service land, and to pass immigration reform that would free up temporary work visas.
West
Around the country, ski states have a variety of issues on their agendas. In California, Roberts expects another helmet bill to resurface. “If it’s the exact same language as last year, we will support it,” Roberts says. “If there are deviations, it’s a whole different ballgame. We don’t want to be in the enforcement business.”
The rest of the Far West remained Democratic, too. “We’re relatively blue and stayed blue,” says Scott Kaden, executive director of the Pacific Northwest Ski Areas Association. “Our representation reflects the voters. Our operations need to reflect those druthers as well.”
How individual states tie their minimum wage to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is an issue. Because of the formula they use, Alaska, Washington and Oregon have the highest minimum wages in the country, which will rise in 2011. Kaden and the ski industry will join others to try and revise the formula.
Meanwhile, in conservative Utah, the focus is on liquor. Last year, the state did away with private clubs, opening bars to the public. “There’s a strong push this year to make the law even more favorable to tourism,” says Nathan Rafferty, president of Ski Utah. “It was a huge step to do away with the private club law, and I think the state realizes what a drawback it is to have some of these convoluted liquor laws.”
Fiscally, Utah is in good shape. Forbes calls it one of the best states to do business in. Ski resorts agree; they have made almost half a billion dollars in improvements this year. “Where everybody is reining back, a lot of people are investing in Utah,” Rafferty says.
In Colorado, Denver mayor John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, was elected governor. “Hickenlooper’s a very solid supporter of our industry and tourism in general,” says Melanie Mills, president of Colorado Ski Country USA, and a member of Hickenlooper’s transition team.
The Colorado Congressional races were a split decision, but more important than party, Mills says, is that six of the seven new House winners are former state legislators. “We always like it when former state legislators get to Congress,” Mills says. “They know our issues well from the state legislature. They know us, our industry, how important skiing is to the state’s psyche.”
At the state level, Republicans took over the house, another positive development, Mills says: “You get some checks and balances with divided government. You don’t see as much wacky stuff.”
East
“Wacky stuff” could be a problem in Vermont, which lost its divided government when Democrat Peter Shumlin was elected governor. There are strong Democratic majorities in the state legislature.
“One-party rule is a different dynamic for us,” says Parker Riehle, president of the Vermont Ski Areas Association. “The governor used to be able to step in and put up a wall. We don’t have that stopgap anymore.”
Statewide, energy, environment and taxes are big issues. “Energy is the number two cost for our industry, after payroll. We’re always looking for anything that will impact energy costs,” he says.
That could mean a battle over the state’s nuclear power plant, which the new governor wants to shutter and VSAA wants to see relicensed. Riehle says VSAA will also oppose any attempts to further tighten Vermont’s environmental laws, or hike the state’s 9 percent meals and rooms tax or 6 percent sales tax, which includes lift tickets (Vermont is the only state in the Northeast to tax tickets).
“We’ll be keeping a close eye on tax policy, especially with New Hampshire next door, which has no sales tax at all,” Riehle says.
New Hampshire is likely to remain tax-free after the legislature flipped from Democrat to Republican (the state still has a Democratic governor). Ditto for Maine, where all three branches flipped to the right. Taxes and environmental policy are top issues in both states.
New York remained solidly blue, although Republicans hoped to eke out a majority in the senate. “Let’s hope we don’t end up with the status quo,” says Scott Brandi, president of Ski Areas of New York. “New York is a mess, tax-wise, debt-wise. Fiscally, there are a lot of challenges.”
Issues include a possible sales tax on lift tickets, water rights, a helmet law, and a family leave act that would extend benefits from 8 to 12 weeks. “There’s so much we’ve had to fight. I’m really hoping our new governor (Andrew Cuomo) will be a leader for us,” Brandi says.
Too bad New York is not more like the Midwest, where the ski industry mostly flies under the radar. “We’re kind of invisible out here,” notes one Midwest ski industry official. “We don’t draw much attention from national or state politicians. Local communities pretty much dictate how we do, as well as the weather and economy.”
If only that were all the ski industry had to worry about!
