Following the Capitol riot in early January, some corporations swiftly announced that their political action committees (PACs) ceased donating to federal lawmakers who objected to certification of the presidential election.
But the results of a new survey reveal that those announcements represent just part of the story.
The Conference Board poll found that only about a quarter of surveyed companies have publicly announced the response of their PACs, and that the number of corporate PACs that ceased contributions to all federal lawmakers was equal to those that stopped them to just the objectors.
The results also show the unprecedented nature of the response: Nearly 90% of the survey respondents said that, in the past five years, their PACs had never taken similar action in broadly suspending or cancelling contributions.
The findings also reveal that the companies whose PACs took action cited senior management's (not just the CEO's) views, a belief in the importance of democracy, and concern about corporate reputation as drivers of their decision.
Just 3% of the corporate PACs decided to permanently stop contributing to the objectors, and for the vast majority of companies planning to resume PAC contributions, the path forward is uncertain: about a third noted that they plan to collect more information on potential recipients before resuming their PAC giving.
The Conference Board survey represented the responses of a cross-section of 84 large firms, including public, private, and nonprofit corporations.
Respondents were primarily Chief Legal Officers, Chief Government Relations Officers, Chief Communications Officers, and other senior members of management.
About 28% of companies have announced their PAC's actions both internally and externally, while another 25% have announced their PAC's decision but only internally.
55% have stopped PAC contributions.
27% stopped contributions to those who voted against certification, either temporarily (13%), permanently (4%), or for an as-yet-undetermined period (11%).
28% suspended PAC contributions to all those in Congress.
The remaining 47% did not take action via PACs for a variety of reasons, including that they do not have a PAC, they are still considering what to do, or they have affirmatively decided not to take a specific response (18%). ■