Dow Jones: Selective Contracting Bi

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Subject: Dow Jones: Selective Contracting Bill at Massachusetts Gov.

      By Lauren Young 
  
  NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--A tough ''selective contracting'' bill targeting
companies that do business in Burma is expected to cross the desk of
Massachusetts Gov. William Weld soon, but it's unclear whether he'll sign
it into law. 
  Bill H2822, sponsored by state Rep. Byron Rushing, would prohibit the
state from buying the goods or services of companies that do business with
Burma (also known as Myanmar). It would make Massachusetts - which was the
first state to pass legislation to divest itself of South Africa holdings
in the 1980s - the first to enact a selective contracting law involving
Burma. The bill was informally passed by the state senate last week and now
is awaiting official approval. 
  Ruled by a military junta, Burma has been under intense scrutiny for
human rights violations. The country's most vocal opponent, Nobel Prize
Winner Aung San Suu Kyi - who was under house arrest for six years - has
called for an economic boycott of the Southeast Asian nation. 
  Some of the companies affected by Massachusetts' sanctions, if signed
into law by Gov. Weld, would include Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL), UPS,
Eastman Kodak Co. (EK) and Pepsico Inc. (PEP), according to Simon
Billenness, senior analyst at Franklin Research and Development Corp., a
socially oriented Boston money management firm that supports Burmese
sanctions. 
  Activists in Massachusetts and elsewhere are taking a new approach in
their attempts to establish economic boycotts. The 1980s approach was to
urge shareholders to divest - most notably in the case of South Africa.
Today's is to encourage shareholders to hold onto their Burma-related
investments - hold on and apply pressure. 
  ''Shareholder resolutions are having much more of an impact on companies
than divestiture. It's a minor change in tactics,'' Billenness says. ''On
the purchasing side you make a direct impact on a company's bottom line.'' 
  According to Billenness, at least 10 cities and states are expected to
enact Burma-related sanctions by the end of this year. Several cities -
including such usual suspects as Berkeley, Calif., Madison, Wis., and San
Francisco - already have selective purchasing laws, and New York City is
considering similar legislation. And universities are also feeling the
pressure, thanks to pressure from students - now using the Internet to
spread their message around the globe. Student protests led Harvard
University, for example, to cancel a $1 million contract with Pepsico
earlier this year. 
  But the prospects for the Massachusetts bill remain uncertain. Analysts
say Gov. Weld, a Republican, may be reluctant to make waves because he is
challenging Democratic Sen. John Kerry this year in one of the nation's
most hotly contested Senate campaigns. 
  Gov. Weld himself isn't talking. He has not received the bill yet and
will not make a decision until he reviews it, a Weld spokeswoman says -
though she does note that as a rule, Weld doesn't advocate legislation that
''interferes with the free trade or Massachusetts' competitive advantage
over other states.'' 
  (END) DOW JONES NEWS 06-10-96
   3:29 PM
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