More Firms' Political Ties Put Online
WASHINGTON — Under pressure from shareholder activists, a small but growing number of major U.S. companies have agreed to disclose their political donations on their corporate websites.
Campaign contributions are a matter of public record, but getting a complete picture of a company's political giving is difficult because the donations can be scattered over scores of individual campaign finance reports at the local, state and federal levels.
Since late last year, companies including Amgen Inc., Staples Inc. and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. have agreed to post their contributions on their websites. Some other companies, including PepsiCo Inc., Coca-Cola Co. and Eli Lilly & Co., enhanced their political disclosure policies last fall.
"This is an issue that shareholders have latched onto," said Daniel Rosan, program director for public health at the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, a coalition of faith-based investors that has pressed politically active pharmaceutical firms to make the disclosures.
The relationship between money and politics has long held allure for some of the public. But recent events have fueled demands for greater clarity, advocates of disclosure maintain.
The legal travails of lobbyist Jack Abramoff, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) and former U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Rancho Santa Fe) are a reminder that the political arena can be tainted by scandal that potentially can reflect on donor corporations.
Even before the raft of political scandals, frauds at Enron Corp. and other politically active corporations had prompted calls for greater transparency in donations. Advocates contend that companies stake part of their reputations when they enter the political battlefield.
"Risk is important -- the risk to shareholders, the risk to companies, the risk to directors," said Bruce Freed, co-director of the Center for Political Accountability, which has championed the cause.
The effort may be starting to affect how company watchers define proper transparency. Institutional Shareholder Services, a proxy advisory firm, recently said that for the first time it would consider supporting political disclosure resolutions at annual corporate meetings in the coming months.
The measures may be considered at more than 40 companies during their upcoming annual meetings, including Home Depot Inc., General Dynamics Corp., Boeing Co., Wyeth and Citigroup Inc.
