Our Philadelphia

Council Member, District 9

Tasco's Top Donors, 2001-2008

1	Laborers District Council	$32,060
2	United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776	$13,020
3	The Law Offices of Duane Morris, LLP, and its employees	$11,090
4	Comcast	$10,025
5	PECO PAC	$7,500

About Tasco's Top Donors

Laborers District Council

Comprised of four different unions—the Laborers Local 332, 57, 135, and 413—the Laborers District Council is by far the biggest donor to political candidates in Philadelphia. The LDC was one of the top 5 donors to Mayor John F. Street in his career, according to a 11/13/03 article in the Inquirer, with $539,000 in contributions. In 2007, LDC originally backed State Rep. Dwight Evans in the race to succeed Street, then switched and gave $19,000 to Michael Nutter in the weeks before he defeated Republican Al Taubenberger. Candidates receiving the highest percentage of all their total contributions from the LDC include State Representatives John Myers and Cherelle Parker, for whom roughly one dollar in every four received between 2001-2008 was from the LDC. The LDC is led by Samuel Staten, Sr., who has also served on the state board that recommends lawyers for appointments to Philadelphia’s Common Pleas and Municipal Courts. Staten joined Joseph Ashdale, political director for IUPAT, in bidding for a license to open a Philadelphia casino in 2006. This raises the question of whether LDC itself has lobbied in support of expanding legalized gambling. LDC is not registered to lobby with the state, and Philadelphia does not require lobbyists to register.

United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776

http://www.ufcw1776.org/

The Law Offices of Duane Morris, LLP, and its employees

http://www.duanemorris.com/

Comcast

"They have PR firms and strategy consultants that they can pull into any given issue very quickly," said Ben Scott, policy director for Free Press, in a May 17, 2009 Philadelphia Inquirer article about Comcast’s strong lobbying arm."If Comcast decided to get in front of the 435 members of the House, they could do that in a week. I don't think I could do it in a year." And if Comcast can personally lobby every member of Congress in a week, imagine how easy it is for them to make their case to the Philadelphia City Council or the state legislature. In Congress, they have lobbied against the Shareholders Bill of Rights, which would give corporate shareholders the ability to reject executive compensation packages, like Comcast CEO Brian Roberts’s annual salary of $25 million. Meanwhile, across Pennsylvania, Comcast has lobbied against opening up markets to competition from other cable companies. On what issues has Comcast lobbied the Philadelphia City Council? It would be nice to know. Unlike New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and many other major cities, Philadelphia does not require lobbyists to register and disclose the issues on which they have been lobbying.

PECO PAC

http://www.peco.com/