State Comptroller DiNapoli Details Progress on Corporate Political Spending Disclosure

 

New Requests Being Sent to 16 Companies

During the 2024 proxy season, three portfolio companies agreed to publicly disclose their political spending while proposals at three other companies won significant support from shareholders, State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, trustee of the New York State Common Retirement Fund (Fund), announced today. DiNapoli also announced that he called on 16 companies, including Tesla Inc., Domino’s Pizza Inc., and Garmin Ltd. requesting similar comprehensive disclosure of political spending.

The agreements were reached with casino operator Caesars Entertainment Inc., delivery service DoorDash Inc., and personal finance company SoFi Technologies. DiNapoli’s proposal would provide investors with transparency into whether companies are using corporate funds to influence the political process in a way which can adversely impact their reputation, value, and bottom line.

“With the increased polarization of today’s political climate, it can be problematic for companies to fund political agendas,” DiNapoli said. “Comprehensive political spending disclosure is a corporate accountability priority for our state pension fund. As a shareholder, the Fund questions whether any spending on political causes by our portfolio companies makes sense for our investments. I commend Caesars, DoorDash, and SoFi for their decision to improve transparency.”

The proposals filed by the Fund asked the companies to publicly report monetary and nonmonetary contributions and expenditures (direct and indirect) to any campaign for or against a candidate, or to influence the public for an election or referendum. They also asked the companies to report on their policies and procedures for making these types of political expenditures.

Similar proposals at Charter Communications Inc., Airbnb Inc., and DraftKings won high levels of support from outside shareholders. Corporations face legal, reputational, and financial risks when making political contributions and expenditures. These risks are heightened by giving to trade associations and similar organizations that financially support candidates and political causes that may not align with a company’s stated values or business strategy. Because of the growing recognition by companies and their shareholders of these risks, comprehensive disclosure of corporate political spending has become a well-established best practice.

“The New York State Common Retirement Fund and State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli are leaders in making corporate political transparency and accountability the norm,” said Bruce Freed, president of the Center for Political Accountability. “They have achieved the filing of 185 political disclosure and accountability resolutions since the Citizens United decision of 2010. Their work has been crucial for protecting companies and shareholders. It is even more important this year with the heightened risks companies face from political spending.”

New Requests 

In 2024, DiNapoli asked a new set of 16 companies to comprehensively disclose their political spending. This group of companies scored poorly on the 2023 CPA-Zicklin Index of Corporate Political Disclosure and Accountability. In addition to Tesla, Domino’s Pizza, and Garmin, requests for disclosure were sent to:

• Bath & Body Works, Inc.
• Extra Space Storage Inc.
• Boyd Gaming Corp.
• Broadcom Inc.
• Crown Holdings Inc.
• Dentsply Sirona Inc.
• KBR Inc.
• Mosaic Co.
• Sarepta Therapeutics Inc.
• Science Applications International
• Scotts Miracle-Gro Company
• Textron Inc.
• The Wendy’s Company

Follow-up Efforts

DiNapoli also contacted  two companies where the Fund previously received a withdrawal agreement, but the companies still have CPA-Zicklin scores below 50%. The outreach is intended to improve their disclosure and ensure the companies are living up to their agreements. They include:

• Molson Coors Beverage Co. 
• Harley-Davidson Inc.

14 Years of Progress Toward Greater Accountability

Since the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling striking down certain restraints on corporate political spending, DiNapoli has made it a priority to engage the Fund's portfolio companies in disclosing their political spending.

Since 2011, the Fund has filed 185 political spending and lobbying disclosure shareholder proposals, securing 64 agreements, achieving 108 votes, and withdrawing 13 proposals for other reasons. The Fund has averaged approximately 13 political spending disclosure proposals a year since 2011. Twenty-one of the agreements were secured at companies where a prior year filing or vote had spurred action.

DiNapoli noted that 26 of the 104 companies that the Fund filed proposals with are now “Trendsetters in Political Disclosure and Accountability” according to the CPA-Zicklin Index.

The New York State Common Retirement Fund is one of the largest public pension funds in the United States. The Fund 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. It has consistently been ranked as one of the best managed and best funded plans in the nation.