years of engagement with Apple to change its voting standard for board candidates from a plurality model to a majority standard. Following successful CalPERS-sponsored shareowner resolutions supporting majority voting, in February 2013 Apple sponsored Proposal 2, which would amend Apple's charter to provide for majority voting for directors. The proposal would also establish a par value for Apple stock and eliminate Apple's ability to issue preferred shares without shareholder approval. CalPERS strongly supported Apple's position that preferred stock should not be issued without shareowner approval. While the 2013 vote was canceled on a technicality, majority voting was officially adopted in 2014. At Nabors Industries in 2013 CalPERS sponsored a proposal to amend the company's by-laws to require shareowner approval of severance benefits that exceed 2.99 times the sum of an executive's base salary and bonus. CalPERS also voted for a proposal asking the board to elect an independent chair and for a proposal allowing shareowners to nominate candidates for election to the board. CalPERS is among the signatories of the "Principles for a Responsible Civilian Firearms Industry," which seeks to engage firearms manufacturers, dealers, and retailers in promoting gun safety. CalPERS has received some criticism for its shareholder activism: As of 2002, there was a concern that CalPERS' activism had distracted from "its effectiveness as a corporate watchdog and its ability to provide for the 1.3 million public employees whose pensions it guarantees". Despite the efforts of CalPERS and others, the chief counsel of TIAA-CREF was quoted in 2003 as saying that there has been "no countrywide improvement in corporate governance". CalPERS votes against some companies' directors "whose sins are exceedingly small," such as "attendance gaps or minor conflicts". Businesses describe CalPERS as having a "pro-labor agenda", especially because of the dominance of Democrats on CalPERS' board. Some argue that CalPERS' actions unduly interfere with business and encourage the belief that California is "anti-business". The Focus List and the "CalPERS effect" Beginning in 1987, CalPERS placed certain companies, with which it had "concerns about stock and financial underperformance and corporate governance practices" on a "Focus List". The list was also referred to as a "name and shame" list. Beginning in 2010, CalPERS stopped publicly naming companies on the list and instead began dealing with such companies privately. In 2012, CalPERS initiated a program to monetize the Focus List. Each year, after the Board approves staff recommendations for Focus List companies,