By Kristin Jones
Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV), Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. (DPS)
and three other companies have agreed to disclose political
donations made with corporate funds, New York State Comptroller
Thomas P. Napoli said.
The New York State Common Retirement Fund has filed a series of
shareholder resolutions to seek disclosure of companies' political
spending, including contributions to trade associations that are
used for political purposes.
To date, 18 companies--most recently including Qualcomm Inc.
(QCOM) and PepsiCo Inc. (PEP)--have reached agreements with the
fund to make public their political contributions, Mr. DiNapoli
said.
As of March 28, the fund owned 2.21 million shares of Southwest
Airlines, 626,150 shares of Dr. Pepper Snapple, 500,250 shares of
Plum Creek, 821,912 shares of Harley-Davidson and 543,850 shares of
Noble Energy.
Representatives from the five companies were not immediately
available for comment.
Write to Kristin Jones at kristin.jones@dowjones.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires