Washington, D.C. — The American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement after the Kansas legislature voted to approve more than $1 billion in corporate subsidies for an unnamed corporation, dubbed the “mystery company” by the local press. The corporation used nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) to prevent public officials, including the governor and state legislators, from revealing its identity.

“It’s shameful that Kansas legislators approved such a massive public subsidy without knowing which corporation they were benefitting, or, if they knew, without telling the public,” said Pat Garofalo, Director of State and Local Policy at the American Economic Liberties Project. “Large corporations across the country use their dominance to push NDAs on local officials so they can extract public resources without scrutiny. This is just the latest example of a practice that should be banned outright, so communities and local businesses are assured of the ability to provide input into policy choices that affect them.”

Lawmakers in three states — Illinois, Florida, and New York — have proposed to ban nondisclosure agreements in economic development deals.

To learn more, read “How Amazon, Google and Other Companies Exploit NDAs” in The New York Times here.

To learn more, read “None of Our Business? How Corporate Power Corrupts Local Economies and Democracies” here.

Learn more about Economic Liberties here.

###

The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.