Pretty Quiet
It got pretty quiet on the radio station yesterday, at least in comparison with the last month or more.
At least four different entities had paid for lots of commercials advocating glyphosate…and speaking out in favor of a bill in the Iowa legislature that would have limited recovery to those who filed lawsuits alleging glyphosate caused them harm. The law essentially said if the warning label on the package provided instructions on use of the chemical…and the use being alleged in the lawsuit was against the instructions…then the person claiming to be harmed could not sue. That’s an oversimplification, but pretty close.
The Iowa Senate passed the bill by the barest of margins. The Iowa House declined to consider the bill before last week’s funnel deadline, with House leadership saying the votes simply were not there to pass the bill.
Once that happened, the groups pushing for the bill—and paying for ads urging you to tell your lawmakers that you choose farmers over trial lawyers—cancelled the advertising. No sense putting more good money after bad, in essence.
As a federally-licensed entity, we cannot simply reject political advertising, whether for a candidate or an issue. And all of these ads came complete with paperwork required by the FCC to show we’re treating everyone fairly.
From a capitalistic bottom line standpoint, as a for-profit business, we’re glad to see the revenue, just as we are from your business or service. But the sheer volume of ads, from multiple sources, tells you how important the industry thought this proposed legislation was. And how much pressure must have been placed on lawmakers.
