Caleb Burns Discusses Corporate PACs’ Reevaluation of Political Donation Criteria

March 11, 2021

Caleb P. Burns, partner in Wiley’s Election Law & Government Ethics Practice, was quoted in a March 11 Bloomberg Law article about efforts by many corporate political action committees (PACs) to reevaluate their donation criteria in the wake of the January 6 events at the U.S. Capitol.

Many corporate PACs have announced a break from political giving and are reexamining their standards for deciding how to allocate campaign contributions, according to the article.

“The events of January 6 were a game changer for corporate PACs,” said Mr. Burns. “It caused them to think beyond traditional business issues, such as taxes and regulation, and restarted a conversation about the types of issues a PAC should consider when making contributions.”

Mr. Burns said he has cautioned corporate PACs not to let single-policy issues or isolated votes dominate their donation criteria, and to instead take the “panoply of issues relevant to a corporation’s success” into consideration.

To read the article, click here (subscription may be required).