White House opposes executive pay bill

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is opposing a bill before the House, pushed by Democrats, to give shareholders at public companies a formal say in executives' compensation packages.

The legislation, written by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, comes at a time of growing public and shareholder anger over lavish compensation for executives unrelated to their performance. It would give shareholders a chance to cast an advisory vote on executive pay plans, allowing them to show their approval or disapproval of them.

Investor advocates, union pension funds and shareholder groups have been pushing for such "say on pay" votes as the chasm between executives' salaries and the pay of rank-and-file employees continues to widen.