The Coalition for Accountability in Political Spending (CAPS) is the nation’s first and only bi-partisan coalition of public officials dedicated to transparency and accountability in corporate political spending. 

CAPS members pressure corporations to strengthen their political spending policies through a combination of direct engagement, pension fund activism, contracting reform and legislation at the state and local level.   The Coalition works independently and in partnership in others’ efforts, as for example with those seeking SEC regulatory solutions.  CAPS is a project of the Fund for Public Advocacy, a nonprofit 501c3 organization.  To learn more about the Fund, visit www.fundforpublicadvocacy.org.

Core Principles:

• Spending treasury resources on elections is risky for pensions, business, and the bottom line. Corporations can minimize negative consequences for profits and reputation by not spending money from their corporate treasury on elections.
• Corporations should disclose to shareholders and the public every dime expended from treasury resources for electioneering purposes.
• Corporations must have a transparent decision-making processes in place to ensure accountability.
• Corporations should restrict the use of trade association dues for electioneering purposes and require disclosure from trade associations regarding the use of their dues. 

Key Priorities:

• Work with institutional investors to promote policies supporting shareholder resolutions on corporate political spending;  
• Directly engage national corporations to strengthen their corporate spending policies and practices;
• Educate policy makers and voters about the implications of unfettered corporate spending in the Presidential election;
• Provide new model policies and resources on corporate political spending to facilitate reforms through rule changes, new legislation and executive orders;
• Serve as the national convener and leader for the groups working to curb the negative impacts of Citizens United;