CASE STUDIES + Results

A Track Record of Success Within Virginia’s New Paradigm

A wave election in 2017 and additional gains in 2019 followed decades of demographic change to, for the first time in a generation, give control of Virginia’s House, Senate and Governor’s mansion to Democrats, creating a new paradigm in Richmond with new opportunities.

This power shift has given rise to not just Democratic majorities but to increased influence for Northern Virginia. And with any long-time-in-coming power shift, the 2020 and 2021 legislative sessions left Democrats to sort through decades worth of pent-up demands from various constituencies. Jackson-West has proven during the 2020 and 2021 legislative and special sessions that our firm is well-positioned to advance our clients’ interests.

In this past Legislative session alone, our team successfully won advancements for our clients on matters relating to labor, energy, refugee, immigration, animal, election, health care and gambling policy. Some of those wins include:

  • Historic legislation to bring casino gaming to Virginia, working closely with Senate Education and Health Chairwoman Louise Lucas, who championed the legislation in representing the City of Portsmouth.

  • Successfully navigated the licensing process for Rush Street Gaming’s “Bet Rivers” online sports book, which beat every other land-based casino in Virginia to the online market.

  • The Clean Economy Act. Working on behalf of the state’s energy utility, we collaborated with legislators to pass historic legislation that advanced renewable energy in the Commonwealth. 

  • Historic legislation raising the minimum wage, with a path to $15 for low-wage workers.

  • Passage of large swaths of the home care bill of rights, including the establishment of overtime and paid leave benefits and more than $100M in hazard pay and PPE, and a more than 20 percent increase in rates.

  • Historic legislation passed on a bi-partisan basis that will allow for Virginia residents, regardless of immigration status, to receive a driving credential.

  • A four-year effort working closely with Sen. John Bell to ban the tethering of animals in Virginia during extreme weather conditions, building on gains made in the 2019 session led by Sen. Lionell Spruill. 

  • A hard-fought and historic compromise on surprise medical billing, working closely with House Appropriations Chairman Luke Torian and others.

  • Legislation ensuring that school-division owned property can be deemed gun-free zones by local School Boards. 

  • A new Board within the Department of Social Services to serve refugees and new Americans with associated funding that we kept intact as other budget items were unallotted. 

  • A repeal of the statewide prohibition on collective bargaining for public sector employees. 

These victories, among others, came through our team’s collective relationships, knowledge of the often byzantine legislative process and year-round efforts, often including grasstops programs to lay a foundation for success.

Grassroots Execution: American Energy Association/ExxonMobil/National Taxpayers Union

For four years Jackson-West has partnered with the American Energy Association, Exxon Mobil and the National Taxpayers Union to enact a comprehensive energy tax education and advocacy effort. To have an honest and informed debate on the future of energy tax policy, it is crucial to accurately frame the oil and gas sector’s role in the U.S. economy and assess the impact of proposed tax policy changes. 
 
Jackson-West engaged local, regional and state chambers of commerce, academic and policy experts, state associations, major energy consumers and state legislators from both sides of the political aisle, plus hundreds of grasstops statewide in a coordinated effort to enlighten and influence federal elected officials and Secretary of Energy Dr. Ernest Moniz.  Through third party voices we made clear to our targets matters including the significant role of the energy sector in the overall economy, the difference between a tax deduction and a subsidy, economic repercussions of increased taxes on the energy sector and the economic benefits of increased liquid natural gas exports as pertaining to America’s national and global security.

Grassroots Cultivation and Growth: Oasis Brands

One of the world's main producers of consumer paper products was up against a series of well-funded and well-coordinated attacks.  These consistent attacks had the potential to have very serious and negative effects against not only paper company's bottom line, but would also threaten its very existence in the Commonwealth of Virginia. 

Immediately, Jackson-West (J-W) lead a series of counter efforts engaging, educating, and mobilizing a groundswell of support that included local, state, and federal elected officials including members of the local Town Council, State House of Delegates, State Senate, and Congress all of whom represented the districts of the targeted paper manufacturing facility. In addition, Jackson West reached out to the local business community, including the local Chamber of Commerce, as well as the local media, where we successfully placed a positive article in the area’s lone regional newspaper.  

Through our efforts, we were able to secure not only grasstop support from local, state, and federal elected officials and business leaders, successfully repudiating these negative attacks, but in addition, productively spread our client’s positive history as an environmental steward throughout the region reinforcing their reputation as a leading manufacturer in the state.

Raising the Wage at National and Dulles Airports

When the Service Employees International Union’s Local 32BJ brought its Poverty Doesn’t Fly campaign to Virginia’s airports, they called Jackson-West.

Against the backdrop of Virginia being a Right-to-Work state and with majorities in the Virginia Legislature resistant to the idea of raising the minimum wage, SEIU partnered with Jackson-West to implement a high-level political and policy campaign directly targeting airport vendors and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.

The Authority is a federal compact with members governing the airports appointed by the President, Maryland and Virginia Governors and the Mayor of the District of Columbia. Jackson-West used its existing network of relationships to help SEIU build trust and a rapport with the Authority’s Board and Staff. And because sometimes you have to change the makeup of the Board you’re working with to ensure your desired outcome, JW lobbied state and local officials to be mindful of the workers at the airports as officials made appointments to the Authority’s governing Board.

Through a combination of direct lobbying, grassroots pressure, one-day strikes, earned media and political pressure, the workers won an incremental increase from, in some cases, $7.25, to $12.50 an hour by 2020. After the staggered increases, the wages will be tied to inflation moving forward.

The raises fundamentally changed the lives of about 4,000 workers, many of whom have joined SEIU’s growing Union.

Founded

2008

Location

Alexandria, VA
Richmond, VA

Expertise

Government Affairs
Grassroots Organizing
Media Relations
Grasstops Campaigns
Coalition Building
Strategic Alliances

 

Want results? Contact Jackson-West today.

The public and private terrain can be unknown and laid with traps. Let us craft your business and government strategy to obtain the optimal results for you and all of your stakeholders.