Shareholder Protection Act introduced in Congress

This week,  Congressional leaders in both the House (Representative Capuano) and Senate (Senators Menendez and Blumenthal) introduced the Shareholder Protection Act,  legislation designed to give corporate shareholders more say in political donations that the company makes. Current law does not require corporations to disclose their political spending, though some companies do so on their own free will. The Shareholder Protection Act,  however, would guarantee that corporate political spending be made with shareholder approval.

The Corporate Reform Coalition has released a statement in favor of the Shareholder Protection Act,  stating that the legislation is “gravely” needed. The Coalition goes on to say: “This bill will impact millions of Americans;nearly one of every two households today has a stake in how the corporate money in those funds is spent via investment. When their invested money is spent on politics, millions of Americans are stuck unknowingly contributing to political causes they may not themselves support.”

Network partners signed on to the support statement, including: Brennan Center for Justice, Citizen Advocacy Center, national Common Cause,  Heartland Democracy, Michigan Campaign Finance Network, Ohio Citizen Action, US PIRG, and Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.

Read more on the Shareholder Protection Act:

Public Citizen release
Business Week (via Corporate Reform Coalition): 11 reasons we need the Shareholder Protection Act
Brennan Center: Protecting shareholders after Citizens United

Keep up with the news on Corporate Reform Coalition’s In the Media page