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Politically InVESTed
Lowe’s Political Action CommitteeAnnual Report2017
* This report is intended to be circulated among the restricted class members of LOWPAC only
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Why does Lowe’s need a Political Action Committee (PAC)? • The government touches every part of our business.• Corporate contributions to federal and most state candidates are illegal.• LOWPAC helps elect individuals who understand our company and are responsive to our
shared interests.
Purpose Of Lowe’s PAC• To support policymakers that help our company succeed.
Quick Facts About LOWPAC • Voluntary• Non-partisan• Does not contribute to presidential candidates• Lowe’s matches your contribution to LOWPAC with a $1 to $1 contribution to the
Employee Relief Fund (LERF).
Why Support For LOWPAC Is Important • Our Lowe’s employees organized LOWPAC to financially support candidates for elective office
who, regardless of political party, understand our industry and our specific concerns.
What is a PAC?
There are 3,500
registered PACs.
Corporatecontributionsto candidates
are illegal.
PAC isshort forPoliticalAction
Comittee
PACs are regulated by theFederal Election
Commission.PACs allowemployees
to poolcontributions.
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You inVESTed in LOWPAC to help elect policymakers who understand our business and the specific interests and concerns of our employees.
Thank You!
Participation by PositionContributions by Location
63% Lowe’s Employees in Stores ($278,210)
37% Lowe's Customer Support Center($163,341)
63%
37%
68%96%
100%
100% VPSOs
96% Market Directors
68% Store Managers
Participation by Regionincludes only VPSO’s, Market Directors, and Store Managers
Contributions Received
2017Employee
Contributions
$457,869
65% $19,810
63% $17,560
66% $18,35179%
$24,656
76% $21,892
53% $15,491
63% $20,066
73% $23,992
77% $26,040
89% $24,476
60% $20,442
76% $19,817
68% $23,965
81% $23,121
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Lowe's Employee Relief Fund
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner stops by as 20,000 buckets are delivered to support neighbor-hoods recovering from Hurricane Harvey
Lowe's contributed over
$457,000to the Lowe's
Employee Relief Fund in 2017
Lowe's matches
your LOWPAC donation
$1 to $1with a contribution
to theLERF
Employees working together to clear hurricane damage for families
LERF provides support to employees and their families who have suffered significant financial hardship.
LERF contributed $29 million in aid to 26,000 employees and their families since the program’s inception in 1999.
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Political Expenditures
House Speaker Tim Moore (center) and Majority leaders show their love of Lowe’s
Expenditures by Party
68%
21%
11%
68% Republican $439,50021% Democrat $137,50011% Other $70,700
LOWPAC Candidates Who Won in 2016
92% Federal71% State
71%
92%
92%
87% Federal $565,00013% State $82,700
87%
13%
Expenditures by Level
Cash on Hand Remaining at End of 2017
$526,378
2017Political
Expenditures
$647,700
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Our PAC Board of Advisors is composed of employees from different departments who meet quarterly to govern LOWPAC, using the criteria below to select recipients. LOWPAC transactions are publicly reported through the Federal Election Commission.
Criteria for Recipients
IssuesCandidate's position on policy issues
Constituency Candidate's presence within the district
Influence Candidate'sability to make adifference withingovernment
ViabilityCandidate's ability to succeed
IntegrityCandidate'score values
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NC Representative Jeffrey Elmore (second from left) tours store 170 in Wilkesboro, NC with Store Manager Kevin Little (second from right), Craig Dowdle (left) and Pam Hodges
Brent Kirby, Chief Supply Chain Officer:
As Chairman of our LOWPAC Advisory Board, I work with our team to make sure that every penny of our voluntary budget is used ethically and effectively to help our company and our fellow employees.
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Let’s take a closer look at one of the hot policies at issue right now:
Since 2016 Lowe’s strengthened ORC laws in 12 states.
Policy Spotlight
In 2017, after retailers advocated tougher measures to the state capitol, North Carolina enacted a bill against Organized Retail Crime resulting in:
4 Increased penalties4 Aggregate multiple charges
In 2018, similar bills on Organized Retail Crime will be debated in Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, and other states.
Government touches every part of our business. Policies that impact our company include these and many more.
Taxes Trade SupplyInfrastructure
Finance,Swipe Fees
OrganizedRetail Crime
Cyber-Security
Employment,Health & Safety
Organized Retail Crime Costs retailers $30 billion a year
NC State Representative Harry Warren speaking about ORC with NC State Representative John Fraley
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Strength in Numbers
We spoke and Congress acted.
This year we mobilized a grassroots effort by asking employees to email Congress to oppose a harmful tax proposal called the Border Adjustment Tax. This would have created a new tax increase on Lowe’s, our customers, and other retailers by over one trillion dollars over ten years. The results:
4 1,100 letters were sent to Members of Congress.4 Congress defeated the Border Adjustment Tax increase in July.
Contributions to the PAC are voluntary and can be declined without reprisal. Any employee cannot be favored nor disadvantaged by reason of amount or decision not to contribute. Contributions to LOWPAC are not tax deductible. LOWPAC must make a best effort to obtain and report the name, address, occupation and employer of each contributor who gives more than $200 a calendar year.
Congressman Patrick McHenry (NC) tours store 457 in Gastonia, NC with Store Manager Larry Taylor and team