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.”