{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/s3348-115/featured_accountable-capitalism-act-1534529075.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/s3348-115/featured_large_accountable-capitalism-act-1534529075.jpg","shareable":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/s3348-115.png"},"introduced_on":"2018-08-15","title_override":"Should Employees of Large U.S. Businesses Choose at Least 40% of Their Corporation's Board?","summary_override":"

This bill — the Accountable Capitalism Act — would require American corporations with more than $1 billion in annual revenue to obtain a federal charter as a “United States Corporation” which would obligate company directors to consider the interests of all corporate stakeholders, including: employees, customers, shareholders, and the communities in which the company operates. It’d also give employees the power to choose at least 40% of the corporate board members, in addition to placing restrictions on sales of stock by directors and on corporate political expenditures.

Directors and officers of chartered U.S. corporations would be prohibited from selling company shares within five years of receiving their shares, or within three years of a company stock buyback.

Before making any political expenditures, chartered U.S. corporations would be required to receive the approval of at least 75% of their shareholders and 75% of their directors.

A chartered U.S. corporation that engages in repeated and egregious illegal conduct may have its charter revoked by the Office of United States Corporations. State attorneys general would be authorized to submit petitions for charter revocations to the office, and the office could revoke the charter if it finds the company engaged in the illegal conduct and hasn’t taken steps to address its problems. The company’s charter would be revoked a year after the decision is rendered in order to give the company time to make a case to Congress that it should retain its charter.

This bill would include a severability clause, which would allow portions of the bill to be struck down by courts without causing the entire bill to be struck down.

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Should Employees of Large U.S. Businesses Choose at Least 40% of Their Corporation's Board?