The recently-released annual Center for Political Accountability-Zicklin Index of Corporate Political Disclosure and Accountability - which benchmarks S&P 500 corporate political spending practices and disclosure - revealed these key findings concerning board oversight based on the 493 companies in total whose practices were evaluated for the report:
- 241 companies - or approximately 49% - require some level of board political spending oversight.
- 259 companies - or approximately 53% - have a dedicated political spending webpage.
- 231 companies - or approximately 47% - disclose general board oversight.
- 194 companies - or approximately 39% - have a board committee that reviews direct contributions/expenditures.
- 173 companies - or approximately 35% - have a board committee that review the company's policy on political spending.
- 160 companies - or approximately 32% - have a board committee that reviews payments to tax-exempt groups.
Also noteworthy is the number of companies that disclose political spending policies - generally flat with last year:
Number of Companies with the Elements of a Detailed Policy
|
|
2015
|
2016
|
2017
|
2018
|
|
Has policy governing political expenditures from corporate funds
|
259
|
274
|
283
|
281
|
|
Describes public policy priorities upon which spending decisions are based
|
189
|
204
|
229
|
226
|
|
Describes political entities to which company does or does not contribute
|
139
|
149
|
156
|
147
|