More of the nation's largest companies are reining in political spending, avoiding making direct contributions to candidates, banning independent expenditures and putting oversight mechanisms in place, according to a study of corporate behavior released this week by a nonprofit group that studies corporate governance.
The study, commissioned by the Investor Responsibility Research Center Institute and conducted by the Sustainable Investments Institute, tracked changes in the political spending practices and policies during the past year of Standard & Poor's 500 companies.
Among the study's key findings: Large companies are twice as likely to report that they will not write checks to candidates and political parties from the corporate treasury, with 64 saying their policies expressly prohibit direct contributions; the number of companies that say they don't spend money on influencing the government and elections has grown to 57 from 40 the year before; and 77 companies report that they will not use independent expenditures going forward.
Study: Companies Cutting Back Political Spending
via rollcall.com
