Washington (Sept. 17, 2004) – Sen. Barbara Boxer and Rep. Anna Eshoo, both California Democrats, sent a letter to President Bush urging him to support passage of H.R. 3574, the Stock Option Reform Act.
In their letter, the lawmakers appealed to the president’s oft-stated vision for an “ownership society,” and claimed that expensing stock options “directly threatens rank-and-file worker opportunities.”
H.R. 3574, which requires the expensing of stock options only for a company’s top five executives, breezed through the house by a 3-1 margin and offers what has been critically described as a “diluted alternative” to the options expensing proposal of the Financial Accounting Standards Board. However, the bill faces tough opposition in the Senate, and both Eschoo and Boxer believe that Bush’s support will help get the measure through.
Thus far, about 800 companies have chosen to voluntarily expense stock options.
-- WebCPA staff
