Political Contributions
RESOLVED, that the shareholders of Centene Corporation (“Centene” or “Company”) hereby request the Company to 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:
1. Monetary and non-monetary contributions and expenditures (direct and indirect) made with corporate funds or assets to (a) participate or intervene in any campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office, or (b) influence the general public, or any segment thereof, with respect to an election or referendum.
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. This proposal does not encompass lobbying spending.
Supporting Statement As long-term Centene shareholders, we support transparency and accountability in corporate electoral spending. Disclosure is in the best interest of the Company and its shareholders. This includes any activity considered intervention in a political campaign under the Internal Revenue Code, such as direct and indirect contributions to political candidates, parties, or organizations, and independent expenditures or electioneering communications on behalf of federal, state, or local candidates.
The Supreme Court recognized this in its 2010 Citizens United decision, which 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.”
Publicly available records show Centene has contributed at least $15,500,000 in corporate funds since the 2010 election cycle. (CQMoneyLine: http://moneyline.cq.com; National Institute on Money in State Politics: http://www.followthemoney.org).
We acknowledge that Centene publicly discloses a policy on corporate political spending. We believe this is deficient because the Company does not disclose any election-related spending from corporate funds, including but not limited to:
• A full list of trade associations to which it belongs and the non-deductible portion under section 162(e)(1)(B) of the dues paid to each; and
• Payments to any other third-party organization, including those organized under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code, that could be used for election-related purposes.
Information on indirect electoral spending 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 electoral spending, direct and indirect. This would bring our company in line with a growing number of leading companies, including WellCare Health Plans Inc., UnitedHealth Group Inc., and Humana Inc., which present this information on their websites.
The Company’s Board and shareholders need comprehensive disclosure to be able to fully evaluate the use of corporate assets in elections. We urge your support for this critical governance reform.