Ethics Board aims to crack down on outside-spending groups that break rules
The Philadelphia Board of Ethics is proposing changes to the city's campaign-finance regulation that will make it easier to crack down on outside groups that make illegal expenditures.
Ethics Board aims to crack down on outside-spending groups that break rules
Sean Collins Walsh
The Philadelphia Board of Ethics is proposing changes to the city's campaign-finance regulation that will make it easier to crack down on outside groups that make illegal expenditures.
Under city law, an outside group making independent expenditures cannot coordinate with a candidate's campaign. If it does, the group is subject to spending limits like everyone else who donates to a campaign. And if they exceed those limits, they could find themselves before the Board of Ethics.
But the regulation's language about coordinating was too vague for the board to enforce possible violations, said Shane Creamer, the board's executive director.
"We're trying to set some boundaries here," Creamer said. "In past election cycles, we have observed what are independent expenditures that appear to be close to the definition of a coordinated expenditure, but the existing definition of a coordinated expenditure was not sufficient to provide guidance to those groups making those expenditures or to the board staff making a determination as to what side of the line it was on."
Essentially, the board is attempting to do in Philly what campaign-finance reform experts are begging the Federal Election Commission to do in Washington: Clarify what the rules for outside spending are to prevent the Wild West-like spending we saw in the 2012 election.
Because the board's proposal would amend a city regulation, not law, it does not need to be approved by Council. The public can comment on the issue at the next board meeting on Jan. 23.
People actually spend on Philly elections? I thought you only had to have a "D" after your name. How much can that cost?— phillycaster
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans. E-mail tips to ransomj@phillynews.com
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Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
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