Philadelphia City Council takes up ethics reform

Philadelphia City Council has approved a series of ethics reforms, and not all the requested changes have been sent to the mayor to be signed into law.

Philadelphia City Council has approved a series of ethics reforms, and not all the requested changes have been sent to Mayor Michael Nutter to be signed into law.

One bill mandates that lobbyists must register and file public reports on their expenditures. Other bills deal with campaign financing rules and government reform.

Legislation that would have given city employees the ability to be politically active in their non-working hours was held. Councilwoman Marian Tasco says they are making adjustments to the legislation.

Tasco:
The city of Philadelphia has the most restrictive political activity; it’s been part of the charter for over 50 years. We don’t want to rush to move forward on something that we really want to be clear – and understand what might be unintended consequences and we’ll take our time moving on that.

Councilwoman Tasco wouldn’t says how long it would take to bring up the bill for a vote.

Ethics reformers outside of city council are happy the bill was tabled. They say it would open the door for abuses.