The Walmart 1 Percent in Florida
MEMBERS OF THE WALMART 1% IN FLORIDA:
- Walmart Board of Directors member Jim Cash lives in Sarasota. Contact Jim Cash:
- The Cash Catalyst (his consulting firm): 100 North Washington Blvd., Suite 201, Sarasota, FL 34236; phone (941) 379-1255; fax (941) 926-7921; email: info@thecashcatalyst.com
- Walmart email address: jamesicashjr@wal-mart.com
- Walmart Board of Directors member Doug Daftlives in Palm Beach. Contact Doug Daft:
- Walmart email address: douglasndaft@wal-mart.com
- Former Walmart CEO and current Walmart Board of Directors member Lee Scottlives in Longboat Key (Tampa Bay area). Contact Lee Scott:
- Operating Partner, Solamere Capital, 80 Hayden Ave., Lexington, MA 02421; investorrelations@solameregroup.com
- Walmart email address: hleescottjr@wal-mart.com
- Ana M. Guevara, Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Walmart Latin America: Walmart Latin America Headquarters, 7747 NW 48th St., Miami, FL 33166
AFFILIATIONS OF THE WALMART 1%:
- Walmart Board of Directors member Jim Cash is on the Executive Committee of AP Capital Partners: 6000 Metrowest Blvd., Suite 208, Orlando, FL 32835; 407-472-1892
The Walmart 1 Percent’s Influence in Florida Politics
The Walton family in politics
The Waltons have spent over $400,000 on Florida politics, with almost all of it going to Republicans.
The Waltons’ political contributions in Florida overwhelmingly favored Republicans from 1990-2010:
Democrats | Independent | Republicans | |
House | $21,200 | ||
Senate | $2,000 | ||
State-level | $521 | $381,000 | |
Florida TOTAL | $521 | $2,000 | $402,200 |
Source: Analysis of data from the Center for Responsive Politics and the National Institute on Money in State Politics
Similarly, 71% of the Walmart PAC’s $392,350 in contributions to candidates from Florida in federal races went to Republicans between 1990 and 2010.
Walmart in politics
Walmart has shelled out at the state level in Florida politics. Between 2003 and 2010, the company spent over a million dollars in state elections. Seventy-eight percent of it went to Republicans.[1]
Walmart’s Impact on Florida’s Employment Picture
Impact of Walmart stores on retail and other jobs
Based on data available through Walmart’s website, there were 93,621 Walmart associates in Florida as of January 31, 2012.
According to a 2006 study, for every retail job created at Walmart, communities lose 1.4 retail jobs.[2] Based on the findings of this study, we estimate that, if Walmart had no stores in Florida, there would be an additional 37,448 retail jobs in the state.
Impact of Walmart’s China sourcing on jobs
Based on an estimate of Walmart’s share of the U.S.-China trade deficit, we can estimate that Florida lost an estimated 9,449 jobs as a result of Walmart’s practice of sourcing heavily from China.[3]
Walmart’s Cost to Florida Taxpayers
Taxpayer subsidies for Walmart
Walmart is the world’s biggest company.[4] But despite its colossal financial resources—the company brought in $444 billion in revenue last year[5]—it’s habitually dipped into public coffers to finance its expansion into almost every corner of the United States.[6] In the absence of centralized information or databases on economic subsidies, Good Jobs First, an economic policy and research non-profit, has done extensive research to document the subsidies Walmart has received, and has published the data on Walmart Subsidy Watch. Here’s what GJF uncovered in Florida.
Taxpayer healthcare costs
Tens of thousands of Walmart associates and their families qualify for Medicaid and other publicly subsidized care. Indeed, according to data compiled by Good Jobs First, in 22 of 24 states which have disclosed information, Walmart has the largest number of employees or dependents on the public rolls of any employer.[7]
In Florida: Walmart was the Florida employer with the most workers (and their dependents) participating in Medicaid, according to data published by the St. Petersburg Times in March 2005. Over 12,000 Walmart associates and their dependents were enrolled in Medicaid.[8]
More Walmart stores coming to Florida
Here’s a list of Walmart stores planned or rumored to be opening in Florida:[9]
- Alachua: Supercenter, U.S. 441 near I-75
- Gainesville: Supercenter, 800 block of NW 34th St.
- Gulf Breeze: Neighborhood Market, West Vine
- Miami: Supercenter, North Miami Ave.
- Panama City Beach: Supercenter, Back Beach Rd.
- Riverview: Neighborhood Market, 10863 Bloomingdale Ave.
- St. Petersburg: Supercenter, U.S. 19 and Roosevelt
- Sarasota: Neighborhood Market, corner of Myrtle and N. Tamiami
- Tampa: Neighborhood Market, North Dale Mabry and Floyd Rds.
[1] Analysis of data from the Center for Responsive Politics and the National Institute on Money in State Politics
[2] The Effects of Wal-Mart on Local Labor Markets. December, 2006. David Neumark, Junfu Zhang, Stephen Ciccarella.
[3] These numbers are estimates. To arrive at these estimates, we used the report by the Economic Policy Institute that estimated U.S. jobs lost to China by state from 2001-2008. We then multiplied that number by 9.3%, which is the proportion of the overall U.S.-China trade deficit that EPI estimated to be tied to Walmart. We arrived at that number from this study.
[4] As measured by revenue; “Fortune Global 500 2011: The World’s Biggest Companies – Wal-Mart Stores,” http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2011/snapshots/2255.html
[5] “Walmart reports Q4 EPS from continuing operations of $1.51; Walmart U.S. delivers positive traffic and positive comp sales in Q4,” press release dated February 21, 2012, http://investors.walmartstores.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=112761&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1663026&highlight=
[6] “Shopping for Subsidies: How Wal-Mart Uses Taxpayer Money to Finance Its Never-Ending Growth,” by Philip Mattera and Anna Purinton, Good Jobs First, May 2004. http://www.goodjobsfirst.org/sites/default/files/docs/pdf/wmtstudy.pdf
[7] “Disclosures of Employers Whose Workers and Their Dependents are Using State Health Insurance Programs,” Good Jobs First report, version dated January 18, 2012. http://www.goodjobsfirst.org/corporate-subsidy-watch/hidden-taxpayer-costs.
[8] “Disclosures of Employers Whose Workers and Their Dependents are Using State Health Insurance Programs,” Good Jobs First report, version dated January 18, 2012. http://www.goodjobsfirst.org/corporate-subsidy-watch/hidden-taxpayer-costs.
[9] Information on planned or rumored stores collected by Making Change at Walmart.