Our Philadelphia Issues
Our Philadelphia's reports and blog posts focus on issues that affect city residents. We take a detailed and data-driven look at how campaign contributions affect your city issues. If you think we're missing a certain issue, let us know by contacting us.
Campaign Finance Reform
Who will own our elections? Who will own our government? Will it be the citizens and taxpayers? Or will it be the special interests that invest huge sums of money in elected officials’ political campaigns? These are fundamental questions facing Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania’s elections look much more like political auctions than reasoned deliberative decision-making by voters. Candidates constantly dialing for dollars to win the dash for cash has replaced genuine political debate and meaningful dialogue with voters.
This “wealth primary” often predetermines who will be able to run for office. It eliminates candidates based on fundraising prowess rather than intellect, creativity, energy, ethics and commitment to public service. Campaign war chests now dominate issues and ideas. Political action by citizens rarely is able to compete with fat cat donors.
Please join Our Philadelphia in exposing the role all of these contribtions play in shaping public policy. The "Reps" section of this site profiles some of the top donors to elected officials from Philadelphia. With your help this list will grow to include profiles of all top donors, and further examples of private money shaping public policy.
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Casinos
The two new casinos that have been approved for Philadelphia, Foxwoods and SugarHouse, will now include poker, blackjack, and other table games, after the state legislature approved Senate Bill 711. Here is a summary of provisions favorable to the industry, excerpted from a recent op-ed by Casino-Free Philadelphia's Paul Boni in the Inquierer.
"Easy credit. The bill would allow casinos to give quick and easy lines of credit to gamblers. This is a predatory tactic that would result in higher rates of gambling addiction, as well as more and more citizens' being pushed deep into debt. Banks should not be casinos, and casinos should not be banks.
Free casino junkets. The state Gaming Control Board currently allows casinos to pay so-called junket companies to offer free bus transportation to the casinos for people who are likely to gamble. Whether or not you think we all bear personal responsibility for our prosperity or suffering, no one has ever dared assert that government should actively induce people to gamble. This outrageous agency regulation is not authorized by law. That's why casino lobbyists have made sure S.B. 711 would legalize it.
"Essential" employees. In another tidbit tucked into the bill, all gaming board employees would be designated essential workers, protecting them from furloughs during budget impasses, so the casinos could stay open while state parks are closed.
Foxwoods extension. If Foxwoods is unable to open its proposed casino on the South Philadelphia waterfront before the statutory deadline, its license should be revoked. But S.B. 711 would empower the gaming board to give it an extra year to open at that location, which is extremely close to residential neighborhoods. Addiction rates increase significantly with proximity and convenience.
Political clout. Pro-casino politicians claim the bill would prohibit casino interests from making campaign contributions. But it wouldn't accomplish that at all. Some of the casinos' most important proponents - such as Philadelphia real estate mogul Ron Rubin - don't personally hold a casino license (although their family trusts do) and therefore would not be covered by the bill's restrictions."
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Lobbying Reform
When business executives evaluate opportunities for expanding or relocating, or even remaining in Philadelphia or the Commonwealth, one of the factors they consider is the governance climate. Does government have high standards for integrity, or is it a “pay-to-play” city or state? A strong lobbyist law and an Inspector General whose office is truly independent of the Mayor’s will both make city government more transparent.
In 2007, Pennsylvania became one of the last states to regulate lobbyists. Philadelphia should likewise move to register lobbyists, require disclosure of lobbyist expenditures and activities, and consider enacting a lobbying code of conduct and ethics that would ban lobbyists and principals from providing any gifts to public officials and public employees, require lobbyist disclosure of issue areas and specific legislation on which they have been lobbying, and require all lobbyists to participate in a training covering city ethics laws and restrictions on lobbying.
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Redistricting
In March 2011 the U.S. Census Bureau will release its 2010 data, and from these numbers the Philadelphia City Council, Pennsylvania General Assembly, and Pennsylvania U.S. Congressional districts will be reassessed and realigned to form an updated system of equal constituent representation. The representative and legislative effects of this redistricting will persist for the following ten years, until 2021.
Too often the process of redistricting is hijacked for the political purposes of incumbents and parties, a process known as gerrymandering. Over the past many decades, district boundaries once geographically sensible have taken on curious and questionable shapes, often constructed so as to preserve electoral seats based on the demographics and voting histories of specific resident blocs.
Despite the fact that redistricting is a contentious issue amongst politicians, the process and its effects receive relatively little coverage. The Our Philadelphia staff, in conjunction with the Committee of Seventy (and their website Redistricting the Philadelphia Region), will be watching the upcoming round of redistricting as it unfolds in the coming years and looking closely at related campaign contributions.
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