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03/28/2024 08:56 AM
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=H&SPick=20170&cosponId=21386
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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

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House of Representatives
Session of 2017 - 2018 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: December 14, 2016 12:30 PM
From: Representative Eddie Day Pashinski
To: All House members
Subject: Approval for corporate campaign contributions and independent expenditures
 
In the near future, I plan to introduce legislation requiring shareholder approval for corporate campaign contributions and independent expenditures.
As you know, in 2010, the Supreme Court decided in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that corporations can spend unlimited amounts of money on independent expenditures calling for the election or defeat of political candidates. This decision was heavily based on the reasoning that this type of corporate election spending is protected political speech under the First Amendment, on the grounds that a corporation is speaking on behalf of their shareholders. However, these same corporations have no process for assessing what their shareholders actually want as well as their political preferences.
To correct this flaw, my legislation will prohibit corporations who are doing business in the Commonwealth from making a campaign contribution or independent expenditure unless the bylaws of the corporation establish adequate procedures for effectively determining and fairly representing the preference of the majority of the shareholders. Such procedures will be deemed adequate if shareholders are notified of and have the opportunity to vote on the proposed election campaign contribution. If a corporation fails to do so, an affected shareholder may bring a civil action against the directors of the corporation to recover the amount of the contribution.
Please join me in co-sponsoring this important piece of legislation to bring fairness and transparency to our system of campaign finance.



Introduced as HB1417