By Kenneth P. Doyle for The BNA Report,
A business organization that has played a key role in past campaign reform efforts is joining an effort to respond to the 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which loosened the rules for corporate campaign spending.
The Committee for Economic Development (CED) announced Sept. 26 that it has assembled "a broad coalition of corporate leaders united in their determination to blunt the effects of Citizens United and relieve the enormous political pressure exerted on corporations and executives to spend on political campaigns."
Veteran reform leader Fred Wertheimer of Democracy 21 hailed the CED move at Washington, D.C., event that featured leaders of business group's new push for restraint and transparency in corporate political activity.
Multi-Pronged Strategy
Current efforts are not focused on a single piece of legislation, however, but include a series of steps to counter the effects of the 2010 Citizens United ruling through regulatory action, court challenges, and voluntary corporate governance standards, CED said (2683 Money & Politics Report, 1/22/10).
A proposed legislative response to the court ruling-known as the DISCLOSE Act-stalled in Congress last year and has not been revived (2847 Money & Politics Report, 9/15/10). Reformers have been struggling to come up with other plans to counter the effects of the Supreme Court decision, which struck down decades-old restrictions on federal campaign spending by companies and unions.
Call for Restraint, Transparency
The business group released new reports outlining the major effects of the Citizens United ruling on the private sector and urging voluntary corporate action to resist what it called the " ‘pay to play' business environment." Leaders of the business group called on individual companies either to refuse to spend any corporate money on election campaigns or, at a minimum, to fully disclose political spending to shareholders and the public.
"Simply put, corporations should not contribute to third-party groups" that spend unlimited amounts on campaigns, CED said in a release announcing the new reform push. "If they do," they should make contributions public and subject to board [of directors] approval and oversight."
In addition to voluntary corporate measures, CED said it would push for public policy reforms, including public financing systems that provide government funds to match for low-dollar private contributions. One report focused on improving transparency for campaign money that is funneled through organizations, such as so-called Section 501(c)(4) groups that are not legally required to reveal their funders, Another CED report focused on improved corporate governance processes for deciding when and how to get involved in politics. A final report focused on corporate involvement in state judicial elections.
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