Treasurer McCord, Coalition for Accountability in Political Spending Call on SEC to Develop Transparency Regulation

On the two-year anniversary of Citizens United decision, leaders say much needed regulation will lift secrecy constituents abhor

Harrisburg – Pennsylvania State Treasurer Rob McCord and leaders from other states – all members of the Coalition for Accountability in Political Spending – are urging the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to act in the interests of the public and investors by drafting new regulations that would shed light on corporate political spending.

Treasurer McCord and others made the request of the SEC in a letter sent earlier this week – just days before the two-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. The judgment paved the way for unlimited – and anonymous – political spending by corporations and other organizations.

“As an institutional investor and, more importantly, the fiduciary of public funds, we have an obligation to ensure tax dollars invested in publicly traded corporations generate positive returns for the Commonwealth and are not spent on political campaigns,” said Treasurer McCord. “This letter urges a very important step to bring transparency to the process so we can fulfill that obligation.”

The jointly signed letter addressed to SEC Secretary Elizabeth Murphy urged the agency to act on a petition that would require public companies to disclose the use of corporate resources for political activities. Among those who joined Treasurer McCord to sign the letter were North Carolina State Treasurer Janet Cowell, New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer, and New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio. The co-signors collectively are responsible for more than $1 trillion in state and public pension fund assets.

Under the McCord administration, the Pennsylvania Treasury as an institutional investor and shareholder typically supports corporate resolutions that call for political activity disclosure, including contributions to third-parties and interest groups that advocate for candidates. To date, the McCord Treasury has supported more than three quarters of such resolutions brought forth by shareholders.

“People want transparency in the political process, but the Citizens United ruling – now two years old – has made a mockery of the system. Just look at what Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are doing in South Carolina today. Their satirical exploitations are shedding light on this issue, but at the same time, their jokes prove just how absurd the process has become,” added Treasurer McCord.

According to the Coalition for Accountability in Political Spending, 84 so-called Super PACs – shorthand for independent political action committees which can raise and spend unlimited funds for campaigns – raised a total of $84 million and spent $65 million in the 2010 cycle, which reportedly was the most expensive mid-term election in history. As of January 2012, 277 registered Super PACs reported $32 million in receipts and $20 million in total expenditures during the first few months of the 2012 election cycle.

For more information on the Coalition for Accountability in Political Spending, visit www.politicalspending.org.

Media contact: Michael Smith, 717-787-2991 or news@patreasury.gov

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