Corporate Underwriters and the Democracy Gap
How company political spending has reshaped state politics and created…
How company political spending has reshaped state politics and created…
First Hard Look at Business’ Stake in Democracy, How…
Seventy-Five Leading Public Companies Undercut Their Climate Change Commitments Through…
See the Guide to Corporate Political Spending.
See the Primer on Corporate Political Spending for incoming Directors.
How company political spending has reshaped state politics and created…
First Hard Look at Business’ Stake in Democracy, How…
Seventy-Five Leading Public Companies Undercut Their Climate Change Commitments Through…
See the Guide to Corporate Political Spending.
See the Primer on Corporate Political Spending for incoming Directors.
Why Corporate Treasury Spending Matters: The Hidden Iceberg
Read the Fact Sheet >>
Why Corporate Treasury Spending Matters: The Hidden Iceberg
Read the Fact Sheet
Looking Behind the Curtain: Corporate due diligence of political spending essential to protect companies from growing risks
Read the Article >>
Under the Radar: The Unrecognized Importance of 527 Committees
Read the Explainer >>
Under the Radar: The Unrecognized Importance of 527 Committees
Read the Explainer >>
The Corporate
Underwriter Series
How does
your company
rank?
Do you
have the 2023
CPA-Zickin Index?
The Corporate
Underwriter
Series
How does
your company
rank?
Do you
have the 2023
CPA-Zickin Index?
CPA In the News
“What’s important to understand is that they are doing this in a social setting, so [lobbyists and staffers] become friends. It’s not just lobbyists going into the office,” said Bruce Freed, president of the Center for Political Accountability.
A recently released survey, commissioned by the Zicklin Center for Governance and Business Ethics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Center for Political Accountability and conducted by a leading non-partisan polling firm, set out to identify how retail shareholders expect companies to approach, govern and assess their political spending
What exactly is the scope and impact of corporate political spending? Much has been written about the risks – legal, reputational and bottom line – faced by companies engaging in this spending.
Corporate Underwriters: Where the Rubber Hits the Road, from the nonpartisan Center for Political Accountability, examines “the scope of corporate political spending and its impact on state and national politics and policy” by taking a deeper dive into six highly influential “527” organizations.
Voters who are invested in the stock market want more transparency of corporate political spending, according to a new poll released as races heat up for the White House and down-ballot offices.
CEOs are looking to keep doors open” with both Republicans and Democrats.
Even as some corporate bigwigs have taken to the sidelines, Trump’s fundraising has outstripped President Biden’s.
It’s a real problem and it raises questions in terms of conflicts and what the companies are doing, and how their money is being used,” said Bruce Freed, the president of the nonpartisan Center for Political Accountability.
“Climate change is such an important area of risk,” says Jeanne Hanna, research director at the Center for Political Accountability. “A lot of companies acknowledge that they face quantifiable economic risks if climate change carries on. It can do damage to their markets. It could do damage to their production. Companies themselves recognize it as…
Of the 345 companies that have been on the S&P 500 since 2015, 270 of them now prohibit or fully disclose spending on candidates or their committees. That’s up from 168 a few years prior, according to CPA’s analysis
“The index is recognized by companies as credible and serious. It is respected,” Bruce Freed, CPA president, told DMI. “Increasingly, companies want to be ‘Trendsetters’ (achieving scores of 90+ out of 100) that they can tout to show their best practices. In the 2023 index, 39% of the S&P 500 were in the top quintile.”
Even if executives hope to steer clear of this election, “if they engage in political spending, they’re speaking,” said Bruce Freed, president of The Center For Political Accountability, which has pushed for spending disclosures. “They won’t be sitting it out. As long as they’re giving, that creates risk because of what it associates them with.”
There’s a noticeable trend in the S&P 500 towards political disclosure and accountability becoming the norm, with a significant percentage of companies scoring high on the CPA-Zicklin Index of Corporate Political Disclosure and Accountability.
Freed told Popular Information that the corporations sending millions in PAC donations to election deniers are “putting themselves at risk.” He thinks the companies are underestimating the economic danger of undermining “the rule of law.” Instead of focusing on the preservation of “the political system that they need to be able to operate and grow,”…
A rush of shareholder proposals demanding transparency have been filed for the 2024 proxy season, with a strong emphasis on lobbying alignment.
With corporate political disclosure and accountability accepted as the norm, the next step for companies is to put in place a framework for approaching, governing and assessing their election-related spending.
The vast majority of companies utilize various forms of public policy advocacy to impact legislative and regulatory decisions mainly through lobbying and campaign contributions.
“Now, the CPA has developed a Guide to Becoming a Model Code Company, designed to help companies and their boards understand the Model Code and how it can help them manage election-related political spending in high-risk environments…”
Three fundraising accounts tied to key Michigan Democrats each got contributions of at least $200,000 from a nonprofit bankrolled by one of the state’s largest electric utilities in 2022, according to a tax filing obtained by The Detroit News.
Big brands like Comcast, Walmart, Pfizer, and AT&T fund the ring-wing political group that wrecked our democracy.