USA: shareholders and executive pay

The Wall Street Journal has reported, in an article titled "Companies Seek Shareholder Input on Pay Practices", an interesting development: Amgen has asked its shareholders, prior to a shareholder meeting in May, to complete a 10 question online survey concerning executive pay. The WSJ states that the survey is "one of the first of its kind" and, more generally, notes:

Shareholders at roughly 400 companies that accepted federal aid will conduct advisory votes this year on those companies' compensation plans. Congress later this year may require such "say-on-pay" votes at all companies".