State Comptroller DiNapoli Announces Political Spending Disclosure Agreements with Seven Companies

 

The New York State Common Retirement Fund (Fund) reached agreements with seven portfolio companies to enhance disclosure of their spending on political causes, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, trustee of the Fund, announced today. “In today’s political climate, corporations that engage in political spending risk damaging their reputations; shareholders need transparency to be able to assess whether corporate political donations align with shareholders’ interests,” DiNapoli said. “It is imperative that companies, at a bare minimum, proactively disclose all corporate funds spent on political causes. The Fund remains steadfast in its pursuit of greater transparency surrounding political spending by portfolio companies.” Match Group Inc., Penn Entertainment Inc., Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., Zillow Group Inc., and Zoom Video Communications Inc., agreed to publicly report monetary and nonmonetary contributions and expenditures to any campaign for or against a candidate, or to influence public opinion on an election or referendum. Travelers Companies Inc. agreed to adopt policies that require the disclosure of trade associations and social welfare organizations to which the company pays dues of $25,000 or more and the lobbying allocations associated with those contributions. After reaching the agreements, the Fund withdrew shareholder proposals it had filed with each company. A proposal for political spending disclosure at casino and hotel operator Caesars Entertainment Inc. received 41.98% of the shareholders vote at the company’s June 13 annual meeting. Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 ruling in Citizens United struck down certain restraints on corporate political spending, Comptroller DiNapoli has filed 179 shareholder proposals on political spending disclosure, with 61 corporations adopting or agreeing to adopt disclosures. The New York State Common Retirement Fund is one of the largest public pension funds in the United States. It holds and invests the assets of the New York State and Local Retirement System on behalf of more than one million state and local government employees and retirees and their beneficiaries. The Fund has consistently been ranked as one of the best managed and best funded plans in the nation.