Employee Stock Ownership Endorsed by Republican Platform

WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwired - July 19, 2016) - The Republican 2016 Convention -- like the 2012 Republic Convention -- has issued a clear cut endorsement of employee stock ownership plans. This year's platform echoes former President Ronald Reagan, a preeminent advocate for employee ownership, by stating:

Republicans believe that the employer-employee relationship of the future will be built upon employee empowerment and workplace flexibility. We therefore endorse employee stock ownership plans that enable workers to become capitalists, expand the realm of private property, and energize a free enterprise economy.

"On behalf on the employee ownership community, I welcome the endorsement by one of our major political parties for more ownership by employees," said ESOP Association President J. Michael Keeling. "Our nation faces political divisiveness, but employee stock ownership is an issue on which both parties have long been able to agree. From our founding fathers, to President Lincoln, to Senator Russell Long, to more than 200 Republican and Democratic members of today's Congress, politicians on both sides of the aisle have long understood that having more employee ownership is good for our nation's employees and for our economy."

ABOUT THE ESOP ASSOCIATION:
The ESOP Association is America's largest employer-sponsored advocacy and education association focused on employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). Founded in 1978, the Association seeks to enhance federal laws governing ESOPs, provide members with expert information, and fund research via the Employee Ownership Foundation (an affiliate). The ESOP Association's members include ESOP companies, companies considering an ESOP, and service providers that assist in setting up and maintaining ESOPs.

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