Chairman Miller Applauds Passage of Shareholder Vote on Executive Compensation Act

Friday, April 20, 2007

WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, praised the House today for approving legislation to allow shareholders of public companies to vote on a company's executive compensation plans.

"Executive compensation packages are out of control. We have seen case after case where top executives have slashed the jobs and benefits of their employees even while taking multi-million-dollar pay packages for themselves," said Miller. "And while executives' pay packages just keep getting bigger and more lavish, the median family income in the U.S. has actually fallen over the last several years. As a result, the average American worker would have to work over 400 years to make what the average CEO makes in just one. This legislation would give shareholders a much-needed say on executive pay and bring much-needed transparency to the process by which companies decide how to reward their executives."

The legislation, the Shareholder Vote on Executive Compensation Act (H.R. 1257), was introduced by U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services. It requires companies to hold a separate shareholder vote of approval on all compensation agreements with principal executive officers including pensions, bonuses and "golden parachutes."  It passed the House today by a vote of 269-134.

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