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New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr., on behalf of the New York City Pension Funds, is asking ten of America’s largest companies to take steps to inform shareholders of their political contributions.

“Shareholders need full and complete disclosure of companies’ political expenditures to fully evaluate the political uses of the corporate assets,” Thompson said.  “The Pension Funds believe that companies must ensure transparency and accountability in any contributions to political activities.”

Thompson submitted the resolutions to: Halliburton Corporation of Houston, TX; Duke Energy of Charlotte, NC; Charles Schwab Corporation of San Francisco, CA; DTE Energy of Detroit, MI; Wal-Mart Stores of Bentonville, AR; United Technologies Corporation of Hartford, CT; Devon Energy of Oklahoma City, OK; Computer Sciences Corporation of El Segundo, CA; Entergy Corporation of New Orleans, LA; and, Union Pacific of Omaha, NE.

Specifically, the Pension Funds are requesting that companies disclose all political contributions and expenditures made with corporate funds, directly or indirectly, to political candidates, parties, committees, and other entities organized and operating under 26 USC Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Companies that adopt the measure would prepare a report that includes the following: the accounting of the Company’s funds used for political contributions; the identification of the person(s) who made the political contributions; and a copy of the company’s internal guidelines governing political contributions.  The report must then be presented to the Audit Committee of its Board of Directors and posted on the company’s Web site.

One company – United Technologies Corporation – already has agreed to adopt the proposal. The Funds have withdrawn the resolution.

Thompson filed the resolutions on behalf of the New York City Employees Retirement System (NYCERS), the Teacher’s Retirement System for the City of New York (TRS), the New York City Police Pension Fund, the New York City Fire Department Fund and the New York City Board of Education Retirement System (BERS).

“The New York City Pension Funds are leaders in making political disclosure and accountability a core corporate governance standard,” said Center for Political Accountability (CPA) Executive Director Bruce F. Freed.  “Their efforts with UTC will ensure that shareholders know the full range of the company’s political spending, including their payments to trade associations.”

"Companies that are willing to be held accountable for their political expenditures make for better long-term investments,” said Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum and a trustee of the New York City Employees’ Retirement System.  “By pushing companies to disclose their policies for political contributions, the New York City Pension Funds are contributing to a more transparent political process. I am proud that the Pension Funds are once again leading the way in shareholder activism."

"A corporation's political contributions have important implications for both its ethics and its profitability," said Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer.  "This information is as essential to shareholders as the businesses' price-earnings ratio and should be as transparently available.  As a NYCERS trustee, I fully support this disclosure proposal and I urge each of these entities to adopt it post-haste."

The Funds collectively hold 3,225,642 shares in Halliburton Corporation valued at $122,284,088; 3,568,122 shares in Duke Energy valued at $7,1969,020; 3,491,074 shares in Charles Schwab Corporation valued at $89,196,940; 466,353 shares in DTE Energy valued at $20,500,877; 6,975,273 shares in Wal-Mart Stores valued at $331,534,725; 2,984,697 shares in United Technologies Corporation valued at $228,448,708; 1,533,993 shares in Devon Energy valued at $136,387,317; 535,709 shares in Computer Sciences Corporation valued at $26,501,524; 646,263 in Entergy Corporation valued at $7,7241,353; and 790,974 shares in Union Pacific valued at $9,9362,153.

In addition to Thompson, the Pension Funds trustees are:

New York City Fire Department Pension Fund: Mayor Michael Bloomberg; New York City Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta (Chair); New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark; Stephen Cassidy, President, James Slevin, Vice President, Robert Straub, Treasurer, and John Kelly, Brooklyn Representative and Chair, Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New York; Michael Currid, Captains’ Rep.; John J. McDonnell , Chiefs’ Rep., and Stephen J. Carbone, Lieutenants’ Rep., Uniformed Fire Officers Association; and, Joseph Gagliardi, Marine Engineers Association.

New York City Police Pension Fund: Mayor Michael Bloomberg; New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark; New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly (Chair); Patrick Lynch, Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association; Michael Palladino, Detectives Endowment Association; Edward D. Mullins, Sergeants Benevolent Association; Thomas Drogan, Lieutenants Benevolent Association; and, Roy T. Richter, Captains Endowment Association.

New York City Employees’ Retirement System: New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark (Chair); New York City Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum; Borough Presidents Scott Stringer (Manhattan), Helen Marshall (Queens), Marty Markowitz (Brooklyn), Adolfo Carrion (Bronx), and James Molinaro (Staten Island); Lillian Roberts, Executive Director, District Council 37, AFSCME; Roger Toussaint, President Transport Workers Union Local 100; and, Gregory Floyd, President, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 237.

Teachers’ Retirement System: New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark (Chair); Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm, New York City Department of Education; and, Sandra March, Melvyn Aaronson and Mona Romain, all of the United Federation of Teachers.

Board of Education Retirement System: mayoral appointees Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, Alan Aviles, Philip Berry, David Chang, Tino Hernandez, Edison O. Jackson, Richard Menschel and Marita Regan; Luis Peguero (Bronx), Patrick Sullivan (Manhattan), Wendy Gilgeous (Brooklyn), and Joan Correale (Staten Island); and employee members Joseph D'Amico of the IUOE Local 891 member and Milagros Rodriguez of District Council 37, Local 372.

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