Title
June 17, 2010
To The President and Members of
The Council of the City of Philadelphia:
For the following reasons, I am returning herewith to your Honorable Body Bill No. 100126, which was passed by Council at its session on June 3, 2010, without my signature.
I want to commend Council for taking the initiative on a number of matters raised by the Task Force on Ethics and Campaign Finance Reform in its report of last December. After introducing bills related to lobbyist registration; the regulation of contributions to inaugural and transition committees; contributions for the establishment of litigation committees related to political campaigns; and the revision of penalty provisions for various ethics-related infractions, Council worked cooperatively with my staff and the Board of Ethics to refine and amend the measures. On June 3, 2010, Council passed those bills. In my view, those bills will move ethics reform forward in Philadelphia and I have signed them today.
Unfortunately, although the same spirit of cooperation governed discussions regarding Bill No. 100126, and amendments were made to the bill in attempts to improve it, in the end I believe the bill has the potential to do more harm than good, and therefore I am returning it unsigned.
Bill 100126 would amend Chapter 20-1000 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Political Contributions and Expenditures," by creating special rules regarding the Code's limits on campaign contributions for expenditures on the printing and distribution of sample ballots.
The origin of this bill is based on the particular facts of how sample ballots and their distribution are often paid for in our local campaign system. Often, candidates pool resources through contributions to ward committees or other types of political committees for the purchase and distribution of sample ballots, which can be costly and significant campaign expenditures.
Under current law, if a candidate has...
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