Published: February 19, 2008
New Companies Bring Number Adopting Political Spending Disclosure To 38
In a major expansion of company political disclosure, Abode Systems (NASDAQ: ADBE), United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) and United Technologies (NYSE: UTX) have agreed to report their trade association payments used for political purposes as part of their overall disclosure and board oversight of political spending with corporate funds. Praxair (NYSE: PX) has agreed to implement more disclosure of its political spending.
Shareholder advocates announced the new companies today. The groups, Washington-based Center for Political Accountability (CPA), the New York City Pension Funds and Walden Asset Management, are part of a nationwide effort to bring transparency and accountability to company political spending.
Abode Systems, Praxair, United Parcel Service (UPS) and United Technologies (UTC) join 34 other major public companies that have adopted political transparency and accountability policies since the CPA launched this effort in late 2003.
The companies are Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY), Staples (NASDAQ: SPLS), Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN), McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), Southern (NYSE: SO), General Mills (NYSE: GIS), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MWD), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), Schering-Plough (NYSE: SGP), PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY), Verizon (NYSE:VZ), Monsanto (NYSE:MON), General Dynamics (NYSE:GD), Aetna (NYSE: AET), Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL), E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company ("DuPont") (NYSE: DD), FirstEnergy (NYSE: FE), Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), WellPoint (NYSE: WLP), Xcel Energy (NYSE: XEL), CIGNA (NYSE: CI), Chevron (NYSE: CVX), EMC (NYSE: EMC), General Motors (NYSE: GM), Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), General Electric (NYSE:GE), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), Home Depot (NYSE: HD), Dell (NASDAQ: Dell), Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) and Intel (NASDAQ: INTC).
The move by Adobe, UTC and UPS to disclose their politically-related trade association payments reflects the growing willingness among companies to provide a fuller picture of their political spending.
"The company actions are a major step in making political disclosure and accountability a core corporate governance standard. They are to be congratulated for recognizing its importance to shareholders," said CPA executive director Bruce F. Freed.
"This will ensure that shareholders know the full range of their companies' political spending, including payments to trade associations that are used for political purposes. It will also help directors oversee their companies' political use of shareholder money," he added.
"Shareholders need full and complete disclosure of the company's political expenditures to fully evaluate the political uses of the corporate assets," said New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr., investment advisor to the $110 billion New York City Pension Funds. "The New York City Pension Funds believe that companies must ensure transparency and accountability in any contributions to political activities."
Adobe, Praxair and UPS adopted their new policies following discussions with Walden Asset Management. UTC reached an agreement with New York City Employee Pension Funds.
As part of the agreements, the boards of directors at all four companies will oversee the companies' political contribution policies and practices. Additionally, the companies will provide information on their political contribution policies on their websites.
Abode, UPS and UTC also will disclose their political contributions in reports to be available on the company websites. Praxair will state on its website that it does not give to 527 groups.
Current campaign finance law prohibits corporations from contributing to federal candidates, but corporations can still give through other avenues. Corporations can make donations to candidates, parties and committees in many states and localities and to ballot measures. They can also engage in political spending through trade associations or other tax-exempt groups such as 501(c)(4) organizations. Much of this spending is undisclosed or reported haphazardly. This leaves institutional investors and individual shareholders in the dark about the use of company resources for political activities.
The Center, a non-partisan, non-profit advocacy group, is leading a shareholder campaign with 26 institutional investors and allied groups to induce companies to agree to political disclosure and accountability.
ABOUT THE CPA
The Center for Political Accountability is a non-profit, non-partisan advocacy group whose mission is to bring transparency and accountability to corporate political spending.
Website: www.politicalaccountability.net
ABOUT NEW YORK CITY PENSION FUNDS
The New York City Comptroller serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of four of the five City Public Pension Funds and is investment advisor to, and custodian of, the five Funds. The five New York City Pension Funds are: New York City Employees' Retirement System (NYCERS); the Teachers' Retirement System of the City of New York (TRS), the New York City Police Pension Fund (POLICE); New York City Fire Department Pension Fund (FIRE); and the New York City Board of Education Retirement System (BERS). The funds, in the aggregate, currently hold $100 billion in assets.
Website: www.comptroller.nyc.gov
ABOUT WALDEN ASSET MANAGEMENT
Walden Asset Management has been a leader in responsible investing since 1975, managing clients' assets to meet both their unique financial and social investment objectives. On behalf and with their clients Walden actively engages companies in which they own shares on a wide range of environmental, social and governance issues.
Website: www.waldenassetmgmt.com
judythpiazza@newsblaze.com
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