UPDATE: Dec. 18 @ 2:20 PM

Lane Hudson, a representative for Bolthouse Farms, sent an e-mail letting me know that Californians Against Hate (a gay activist organization) ended their boycott of the company this October. The group also acknowledged that the company wasn't responsible for a donation made by William Bolthouse, the patriarch of the company, to help pass Proposition 8. Bolthouse sold his interest in his firm in 2005 and all donations made by Bolthouse came from the Bolthouse Foundation, which is a separate entity from the company.

Correction (Posted Dec. 17 @ 9:00 AM): An earlier version of this post incorrectly said Pacific Gas & Electric supported Proposition 8.

Companies over the years have gotten caught up in controversy by providing monetary support for hot-button state ballot measures. The most recent companies to get embroiled in such  measures are Bolthouse Farms, Pacific Gas & Electric, and the Manchester Grand Hyatt and Grand Del Mar hotels based in San Diego, over the issue of Proposition 8, the 2008 California ballot initiative to ban gay marriage. All of these businesses became targets of activists or employees and customers, and they are an example of why corporate boards need to establish formal procedures for overseeing their company's involvement in political activity, says the Center for Political Accountability in a new report called "Taking Initiative."

"With political spending becoming riskier, directors need to pay even closer attention" than ever to how companies are allocating their dollars in politics and public policy, said Bruce Freed, executive director of the center, a non-profit organization that has spent the past five years advocating for more transparency and accountability when it comes to political spending by some of the national's largest corporations.

Freed also said the report lays the groundwork for a "best practices" handbook on corporate political spending that his organization is developing with the business think tank The Conference Board. The book is expected in spring 2009.

Since Freed's group embarked on their effort to get companies to disclose more specifics of their spending on public policy and politics, 52 companies, including American Express and Hewlett Packard, have agreed to be more transparent and accountable for their political expenditures.

                                                                                                             -- Bara Vaida