U.S. Congresswoman Cindy Axne

A bill introduced by the Congresswoman for Iowa’s Third District that requires public companies to disclose information about their management policies, awaits a House floor vote.

The House Financial Services Committee recently advanced The Workforce Investment Disclosure Act, sponsored by Representative Cindy Axne (D), which would require public companies to disclose basic human capital metrics, including workforce turnover rates, skills and development training, workforce health and safety, and compensation statistics.

Axne says these days most companies she talks to state that their most important asset is their employees. If that’s the case, Axne asks why they aren’t insuring that investors and consumers understand how companies are dealing with that, “So that’s why I introduced this bill because this kind of information helps us understand how companies are planning for the long term and knowing how a company is developing the skills of their workforce is critical to evaluating how they’ll be able to prepare for the future and get the types of revenues and returns that investors are looking for.”

A Senate companion version of the bill was also recently introduced by Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee member Mark Warner (D). This bill is Axne’s fourth piece of legislation aimed at encouraging good corporate practices and improving public transparency at U.S. companies.