[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4630 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4630

 To amend the securities laws to require that registration statements, 
    quarterly and annual reports, and proxy solicitations of public 
companies include a disclosure to shareholders of any expenditure made 
  by that company in support of or in opposition to any candidate for 
                Federal, State, or local public office.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 22, 2010

 Mr. Ackerman (for himself, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Capuano, Mrs. Maloney, and 
Mr. Gutierrez) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the securities laws to require that registration statements, 
    quarterly and annual reports, and proxy solicitations of public 
companies include a disclosure to shareholders of any expenditure made 
  by that company in support of or in opposition to any candidate for 
                Federal, State, or local public office.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Corporate Politics Transparency 
Act''.

SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE TO SHAREHOLDERS OF CERTAIN POLITICAL EXPENDITURES.

    (a) Quarterly and Annual Reports.--Section 13 of the Securities 
Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new subsection:
    ``(m) Disclosure of Certain Political Expenditures.--
            ``(1) Disclosure required.--Each quarterly and annual 
        report required under this section or section 15(d) shall 
        include a disclosure of the total of any independent 
        expenditures in support of or in opposition to any candidate 
        for Federal, State, or local public office made by the issuer 
        during the preceding 6-year period. Such disclosures shall 
        contain, at minimum, the name and political party affiliation 
        of each candidate in support of whom or in opposition to whom 
        an independent expenditure was made, the amount of each such 
        expenditure, the public office that such candidate was or is 
        seeking, including the relevent State, city, or district, and a 
        statement of the issuer's interest in and reason for making 
        such expenditure.
            ``(2) Definition.--For purposes of this subsection, the 
        term `independent expenditure in support of or in opposition to 
        any candidate for Federal, State, or local public office' means 
        an expenditure or series of expenditures totaling more than 
        $10,000 for any single candidate during any single election 
        that--
                    ``(A) is an independent expenditure under the 
                Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971; or
                    ``(B) is relating to a candidate for State or local 
                public office that would be treated as an independent 
                expenditure under such Act if the candidate were a 
                candidate for Federal public office.''.
    (b) Proxies.--Section 14 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 
U.S.C. 78n) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection:
    ``(i) Disclosure to Shareholders of Political Expenditures.--Any 
solicitation of any proxy or consent or authorization in respect of any 
security of an issuer shall contain a disclosure of the total of any 
independent expenditures in support of or in opposition to any 
candidate for Federal, State, or local public office made by the issuer 
during the preceding 6-year period. Such disclosure must be clear and 
conspicuous and, at minimum, contain the name and political party 
affiliation of each candidate in support of whom or in opposition to 
whom an independent expenditure was made, the amount of each such 
expenditure, the public office that such candidate was or is seeking, 
including the relevent State, city, or district, and a statement of the 
issuer's interest in and reason for making such expenditure. For 
purposes of this subsection, the term `independent expenditure in 
support of or in opposition to any candidate for Federal, State, or 
local public office' has the meaning given such term in section 
13(m)(3).''.
    (c) Registration Statements.--Section 7 of the Securities Act of 
1933 (15 U.S.C. 77g) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) The registration statement shall also contain a disclosure of 
any independent expenditures in support of or in opposition to any 
candidate for Federal, State, or local public office made by the issuer 
during the preceding 6-year period. Such disclosure shall contain, at 
minimum, the name and political party affiliation of each candidate in 
support of whom or in opposition to whom an independent expenditure was 
made, the amount of each such expenditure, the public office that such 
candidate was or is seeking, including the relevent State, city, or 
district, and a statement of the issuer's interest in and reason for 
making such expenditure. For purposes of this subsection, the term 
`independent expenditure in support of or in opposition to any 
candidate for Federal, State, or local public office' has the meaning 
given such term in section 13(m)(3) of the Securities Exchange Act of 
1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m(m)(3)).''.
    (d) Modification of Forms.--The Securities and Exchange Commission 
shall make such modifications to any forms made available by the 
Commission to facilitate the disclosures required by the amendments 
made by this Act.
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