Tellabs Blog

Yesterday, the Center for Political Accountability released its study of corporate political spending for the largest U.S. companies. It finds that voluntary disclosure of political spending is becoming a mainstream corporate practice.

Answer: No, Tellabs does not make political contributions. Never has. Tellabs believes that directing our resources to core business activities best serves our stakeholders.

And, while we're on the subject, Tellabs has never had a Political Action Committee. We don't directly lobby, but we are a member of industry organizations that do.

In 2009 Tellabs formalized its long-standing practices with a political spending policy.  Earlier this month we released the policy on our website.

Because, when it comes to corporate political spending, more and more people want to know who, what, when, where and why.

Growing call for transparency
Transparency on corporate political contributions became a hot topic following the U.S. Supreme Court case, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. This controversial ruling in January 2010 gave companies and unions more freedom to influence election campaigns.

Tellabs has no political contributions to disclose. If that ever changes, we've pledged to make such contributions public information. You can read more details in our political spending policy.

Companies have different approaches to engaging in politics. Transparency needs to be part of that approach.