,i #aafth ,,congress #ast ,session ,h4 ,r4 #icf ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,january #ca1 #bjai,mr4 ,raskin 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,rouda1 ,mr4 ,johnson of ,georgia1 ,mr4 ,carbajal1 ,ms4 ,norton1 ,ms4 ,schakowsky1 ,mr4 ,soto1 ,mr4 ,blumenauer1 and ,mr4 ,pocan7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,financial ,services1 and in addition to the ,committee on ,house ,administration1 for a period to be subsequently determined by the ,speaker1 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned ,a ,,bill ,to amend the ,securities ,exchange ,act of #aicd and the ,federal ,election ,campaign ,act of #aiga to prohibit a corporation from making disbursements for a political purpose unless the corporation has assessed the preferences of its shareholders with respect to such disbursements1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,shareholders ,united ,act of #bjai4 #b4 ,assessment of shareholder preferences for disbursements for political purposes 7a7 ,assessment required ,the ,securities ,exchange ,act of #aicd 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4 #gh;a et seq47 is amended by inserting after section #aj;,d the following3 #aj;,e4 ,assessment of shareholder preferences for disbursements for political purposes 7a7 ,assessment required before making a disbursement for a political purpose 7#a7 ,requirement ,an issuer with an equity security listed on a national securities exchange may not make a disbursement for a political purpose unless-- 7,a7 the issuer has in place procedures to assess the preferences of the shareholders of the issuer with respect to making such disbursements2 and 7,b7 such an assessment has been made within the #a-year period ending on the date of such disbursement4 7#b7 ,treatment of issuers whose shareholders are prohibited from expressing preferences ,notwithstanding paragraph 7#a71 an issuer described under such paragraph with procedures in place to assess the preferences of its shareholders with respect to making disbursements for political purposes shall not be considered to meet the requirements of such paragraph if a majority of the number of the outstanding equity securities of the issuer are held by persons who are prohibited from expressing partisan or political preferences by law1 contract1 or the requirement to meet a fiduciary duty4 7b7 ,assessment requirements ,the assessment described under subsection 7a7 shall assess-- 7#a7 which types of disbursements for a political purpose the shareholder believes the issuer should make2 7#b7 whether the shareholder believes that such disbursements should be made in support of1 or in opposition to1 ,republican1 ,democratic1 ,independent1 or other political party candidates and political committees2 7#c7 whether the shareholder believes that such disbursements should be made with respect to elections for ,federal1 ,state1 or local office2 and 7#d7 such other information as the ,commission may specify1 by rule4 7c7 ,disbursement for a political purpose defined 7#a7 ,in general ,for purposes of this section1 the term disbursement for a political purpose means any of the following3 7,a7 ,a disbursement for an independent expenditure1 as defined in section #cja7ag7 of the ,federal ,election ,campaign ,act of #aiga 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #cjaja7ag774 7,b7 ,a disbursement for an electioneering communication1 as defined in section #cjd7;f7 of the ,federal ,election ,campaign ,act of #aiga 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #cjajd7;f774 7,c7 ,a disbursement for any public communication1 as defined in section #cja7bb7 of the ,federal ,election ,campaign ,act of #aiga 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #cjaja7bb77-- 7i7 which expressly advocates the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate for election for ,federal office1 or is the functional equivalent of express advocacy because1 when taken as a whole1 it can be interpreted by a reasonable person only as advocating the election or defeat of a candidate for election for ,federal office2 or 7ii7 which refers to a clearly identified candidate for election for ,federal office and which promotes or supports a candidate for that office1 or attacks or opposes a candidate for that office1 without regard to whether the communication expressly advocates a vote for or against a candidate for that office4 7,d7 ,any other disbursement which is made for the purpose of influencing the outcome of an election for a public office4 7,e7 ,any transfer of funds to another person which is made with the intent that such person will use the funds to make a disbursement described in subparagraphs 7,a7 through 7,d71 or with the knowledge that the person will use the funds to make such a disbursement4 7#b7 ,exceptions ,the term disbursement for a political purpose does not include any of the following3 7,a7 ,any disbursement made from a separate segregated fund of the corporation under section #caf of the ,federal ,election ,campaign ,act of #aiga 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #cjaah74 7,b7 ,any transfer of funds to another person which is made in a commercial transaction in the ordinary course of any trade or business conducted by the corporation or in the form of investments made by the corporation4 7,c7 ,any transfer of funds to another person which is subject to a written prohibition against the use of the funds for a disbursement for a political purpose4 7d7 ,other definitions ,in this section1 each of the terms candidate1 election1 political committee1 and political party has the meaning given such term under section #cja of the ,federal ,election ,campaign ,act of #aiga 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #cjaja74 4 7b7 ,conforming amendment to ,federal ,election ,campaign ,act of #aiga ,to prohibit disbursements by corporations failing ,to assess preferences ,section #caf of the ,federal ,election ,campaign ,act of #aiga 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #cjaah7 is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection3 7d7 ,prohibiting disbursements by corporations failing ,to assess shareholder preferences 7#a7 ,prohibition ,it shall be unlawful for a corporation to make a disbursement for a political purpose unless the corporation has in place procedures to assess the preferences of its shareholders with respect to making such disbursements1 as provided in section #aj;,e of the ,securities ,exchange ,act of #aicd4 7#b7 ,definition ,in this section1 the term disbursement for a political purpose has the meaning given such term in section #aj;,e7c7 of the ,securities ,exchange ,act of #aicd4 4 7c7 ,effective date ,the amendments made by this section shall apply with respect to disbursements made on or after ,december #ca1 #bjai4