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- Last Year 12,000 Lobbyists Were Whispering in the Ear of Congress with a Bankroll of $4.1 Billion; Five Senators Are Demanding Transparency
Last Year 12,000 Lobbyists Were Whispering in the Ear of Congress with a Bankroll of $4.1 Billion; Five Senators Are Demanding Transparency
by Pam Martens and Russ Martens Wall Street on Parade
Yesterday, five U.S. Senators who are members of the Senate Banking Committee issued a letter to Gary Gensler, the Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), demanding that he issue a rule that would force publicly-traded companies to disclose the dollar amount of their lobbying expenditures as well as the issues they are lobbying for or against.
The authors of the letter were: U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren, (D-Mass.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), and John Fetterman (D-Pa.).
Publicly-traded companies are already forced to disclose in SEC filings matters that are deemed material to the financial health of the company or that may be a source of reputational risk. It makes good sense that the investing public should also know if a public company is lobbying for an issue that is contrary to the values of the investor.