Barbara Lee Votes to Reign in Executive Compensation
For Immediate Release
July 31, 2009
Contact: Nicole Y. Williams
(202) 225-2661
Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee voted in support of the Corporate and Financial Institution Compensation Fairness Act The bill passed the House by a vote of 237-185. She released this statement:
“Executive compensation is out of control on Wall Street. Wall Street Banks have learned nothing from having triggered the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression, continuing to compensate themselves whether they make big profits or cause huge losses.
“This is simply unacceptable. The Corporate and Financial Institution Compensation Fairness Act is a strong first step in making corporate executives accountable.
“This bill will give shareholders a long overdue voice in how the companies they own are run. It will also give the Securities and Exchange Commission the ability to make reasonable regulations that will reduce the out of control risks that some Wall Street banks have been taking with the savings of millions of Americans. These are absolutely critical reforms that will help to keep compensation and incentives for executives in line with those of shareholders.
“While I support this bill, I also believe that it can do more. Though the bill increases disclosure of these exorbitant pay packages, it does not change the fundamental structure of why corporations continue to inflate the pay of top executives. Corporations today are allowed to deduct nearly the full cost of these huge pay packages and it only hits the American taxpayer, not their bottom line.
“The Congress, long ago set a $1 million cap on the deductibility of cash income for the top executives of companies, but those companies have found countless ways to pay their executives that have no limit on their deductions. I have introduced H.R. 1594, the Income Equity Act that would limit the deductibility of all of the types of compensation. It is my hope that we would revisit this issue soon so we can once and for all reign in corporate waste and bring accountability to Wall Street.”
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