An Our Philadelphia Blog Post
How To Catch A Lobbyist
Philadelphia is no longer the biggest city in the country that does not require lobbyists to register and report the issues on which they are lobbying. Last month, City Council passed a lobbyist registration bill that includes a number of model provisions, including a prohibition on lobbyists knowingly making false statements to legislators, and a ban on "bell-ringing" or the practice of encourage a legislator to introduce a bill so that a lobbyist can be paid to oppose it. Council's final lobbying bill also includes a number of provisions suggested by Common Cause: a requirement that lobbyists report the numbers of the bill(s) on which they have been lobbying; a requirement for stronger electronic reporting of their expenditures; and a requirement that lobbyists receive ethics training from the City Board of Ethics. Shining a bright light on lobbyists is a welcome step. But missing from the package of bills that Council passed were a number of reforms proposed by the Mayor's Task Force on Ethics that would have cast a brighter light on Council itself, such as empowering the city's Inspector General to investigate Council, and building a better, more accessible database of campaign contributions so the public can better understand who is paying for their elected officials' campaigns.