The California legislature has reacted to the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, 558 U.S. 50 (2010) by gutting and amending AB 919 (Nava).  That bill started out life last year as a "spot" bill.   A "spot" bill is a bill that makes a very inconsequential change to a statute and then is later amended.  Spot bills are used as placeholders but they also provide a means to sandbag possible opposition.  Ultimately, AB 919 was amended to add a provision to the Civil Code with respect to mortgages.  A year ago, the Assembly passed AB 919 in this form.  Now the author has gutted AB 919 and amended it to address an entirely new subject - political contributions by corporations.  In its current form, the bill would require a corporation to report to its shareholders if it makes a contribution or expenditure to, or in support of, or in opposition to, a candidate, ballot measure campaign, or signature-gathering effort on behalf of a ballot measure, political party, or political action committee.  More significantly, the corporation would be required to refund a pro rata share of the contribution to an objecting shareholder.  It is quite obvious that there a number of significant technical issues associated with the implementation of the refunds.  It should also be obvious that the bill is attracting the strong opposition of the business community.  For now, the bill has failed to pass out of the Senate Banking, Finance and Insurance Committee.