For years, the Center for Political Accountability’s annual CPA-Zicklin Index of corporate political practices has touted marked year-over-year increases in corporate political disclosure practices. Look at the subtitles for its recent reports: How Leading Companies are Strengthening Their Political Spending Practices (2013), How Leading Companies are Making Political Disclosure a
Continue Reading Is Corporate Political Disclosure Leveling Off? Crunching the latest CPA-Zicklin Numbers
corporate political activity
New Report Calls Out Corporate Political Disclosure “Basement Dwellers”
By Zachary G. Parks on
Posted in Corporate Political Spending Disclosure
A report published today criticizes companies that refuse to disclose information about their political spending on their websites. The non-profit Center for Political Accountability and the Zicklin School at Wharton annually rank all companies in the S&P 500 on their political disclosure practices, based on a 70-point metric. The more…
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Congressional Spending Bill Shuts Down Key Goals of Campaign Finance Reform Community
By Zachary G. Parks on
A major spending bill posted late last night by Congressional leaders contains provisions shooting down two key initiatives of the campaign finance reform community.
Stymied by a Federal Election Commission that has increasingly struggled to find consensus, campaign finance activists in recent years have turned their attention to other federal …
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New Report Adds Pressure For Public Companies to Voluntarily Disclose Political Spending
By Zachary G. Parks on
Posted in Corporate Political Spending Disclosure
A report published today by the Center for Political Accountability will result in more pressure on public companies to voluntarily disclose information about their political spending.
Each year, CPA in collaboration with the Zicklin Center at the University of Pennsylvania issues a detailed report “scoring” companies on their corporate political…
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Covington Releases How-To Guide For Responding To Corporate Political Disclosure Initiatives
By Zachary G. Parks on
Posted in Corporate Political Spending Disclosure
Covington today released a client advisory providing best practices to assist in-house counsel of publicly-traded companies in responding to corporate political disclosure initiatives. These initiatives aim to force companies to post to their websites more information regarding corporate political activities, such as details regarding corporate contributions to trade associations and…
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In Chevron Case, FEC Brings Clarity to the Federal Contractor Ban and Super PACs
The rules on corporate contributions to Super PACs were made clearer today when the Federal Election Commission (FEC) released its finding that Chevron Corporation’s $2.5 million contribution in 2012 to the Congressional Leadership Fund (a Super PAC) had not violated the bar on government contractors making contributions in federal elections.
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Virginia General Assembly Sends Ethics Bill to Governor
By Andrew Garrahan on
As we predicted in January, the Virginia General Assembly has passed an ethics reform law and sent it to Governor Terry McAuliffe who can sign it into law, veto it, or propose amendments and return it to the General Assembly for further action. If signed into law, it will supplement…
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Activist Investors Announce Submission of Political Spending Shareholder Proposals to 48 Companies
By Zachary G. Parks on
Posted in Corporate Political Spending Disclosure
A coalition of 60 investors, led by the AFSCME Employees Pension Plan and Walden Asset Management, recently announced that they have submitted shareholder proposals seeking additional disclosures regarding political spending and lobbying activities. This announcement reflects a continuing desire among these groups to obtain additional disclosures from public companies regarding…
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Shareholders Try New Tactic in Corporate Political Disclosure Fight
By Zachary G. Parks on
This year has not been a great one for activists seeking to force corporations to increase disclosure of their political activities. According to the Manhattan Institute’s Center for Legal Policy, average shareholder support for proposals related to political spending or lobbying declined again this year, from 22 percent to 20…
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The More Things Change: The FEC and Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A.
By Kevin Glandon on
On Thursday, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) was unable to agree on whether Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A. could sponsor a Separate Segregated Fund (a corporate “SSF” or “PAC” in common parlance) that solicited contributions from the employees of its dealers and service centers. The request resulted in an unsurprising deadlock…
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