Emerson Electric-Political Spending (2017)

Outcome: 40.25%

Resolved, shareholders of Emerson Electric Company (the “Company”) request the Company prepare and semiannually update a report, which shall be presented to the pertinent board of directors committee and posted on the Company’s website, that discloses the Company’s:
a) Use of corporate funds for independent expenditures and electioneering communications, as defined by state and federal law, as well as contributions to or expenditures on behalf of organizations that make such expenditures, and
b) Contributions to or expenditures on behalf of entities organized and operating under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code, as well as the portion of any dues or payments that are made to any tax-exempt organization (such as a trade association) that are used for an expenditure or contribution that, if made directly by the Company, would not be deductible under section 162(e) of the Internal Revenue Code.
The report shall be made available within 12 months of the annual meeting and identify all recipients and the amount paid to each recipient from Company funds.
Supporting Statement
As long-term Emerson Electric Company shareholders, we support transparency and accountability in corporate spending on political activities. Disclosure is in the best interest of the Company and its shareholders. The Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling recognized the importance of disclosure when it said: “[D]isclosure permits citizens and shareholders to react to the speech of corporate entities in a proper way. This transparency enables the electorate to make informed decisions and give proper weight to different speakers and messages.”
The Company contributed at least $1,343,000 in corporate funds since the 2010 election cycle. (CQ http://moneyline.cq.com; National Institute on Money in State Politics http://www.followthemoney.org)
We acknowledge that our Company discloses a policy on corporate political spending and its contributions to state-level candidates, parties and committees on its website. However, we believe this is deficient because the Company will not disclose the following expenditures made for political purposes:
• A list of trade associations to which it belongs and how much it gave to each;
• Payments to any other third-party organization, including those organized under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code; and
• Any independent expenditure made directly by the Company.
Information on indirect political engagement through trade associations and 501(c)(4) groups cannot be obtained by shareholders unless the Company discloses it. This proposal asks the Company to disclose all of its political spending, direct and indirect. This would bring our Company in line with a growing number of companies, including Cummins, Schlumberger and United Technologies, which support comprehensive political disclosure and accountability and present this information on their websites.
The Company’s board and shareholders need comprehensive disclosure to be able to evaluate the political use of corporate assets. We urge your support for this critical governance reform.