Compliance & Filing Assistance
Financial Disclosure
Annual financial disclosure requirements help ensure good government by requiring public officials to disclose sources of income, creditors, gifts, and certain business or real estate interests. Members of the public can use this information to assess what interests may affect an official’s decision making. The City's Ethics Code requires an annual statement of financial interest from elected officials and other high-ranking City officers and employees. Additionally, the State Ethics Act requires a statement from any City officers or employees with supervisory or discretionary responsibilities. While the two forms have some differences, both capture information related to sources of income, business interests, directorships, gifts, and other financial interests.
For both forms, the deadline for most filers is usually May 1. While not required, the overwhelming majority of filers file their financial disclosure forms via the Board’s Financial Disclosure filing system discussed further below.
Board’s Financial Disclosure Filing System
Every year, the Board updates and prepares its electronic system to be utilized during the year’s “financial disclosure season” (i.e., the months leading up to the May 1 deadline). This is the system most filers use to submit and file the financial disclosure forms. Preparing and updating the system every year requires significant effort by the Board and takes place months before the May 1 deadline.
In June 2020, the Board implemented a new Financial Disclosure System that replaced the previous, 13 year-old system. No significant changes were made to the system in FY2023, but Board Staff notes that it has been invaluable and has allowed the Board to carry out its duties and obligations regarding financial disclosure almost seamlessly in FY2023. Board Staff continues to credit much of this to its new Financial Disclosure System and all the hard work it took in previous years to make it viable.
The Board’s Filing-Related Assistance
The Board’s compliance-related work regarding its administration of the Financial Disclosure Rules primarily involves notifying the regulated community of their filing obligations under the rules, educating them about how to file their reports and what information must be included in them, and then individually assisting members of the community to satisfy these obligations. This work is summarized below and is further discussed in the Training and Advice sections of this Annual Report.
Alerts and reminders
The first, introductory task for the Board is to inform and remind filers of the filing requirement in the months leading up to the May 1 deadline. This is no small undertaking as it involves thousands of City officers and employees operating in dozens of different City offices, departments, agencies, boards, commissions, etc. It also involves keeping track of the constant flow of City officers and employees entering and leaving City service.
In this regard, in FY2023 Board Staff continued to refine its use of software that allows for better targeting of email communications to filers. This involved targeting not only current City officers and employees who are required to file, but also those individuals who have left City service but are still required to file in the year after their departure. To better ensure compliance, throughout “filing season” the Board continued to maintain a system to track which of the required filers have already filed and those who have not. Regarding the latter, the Board has enacted and continues to refine a detailed and specific sub-system to target these individuals and send them a series of follow-up communications as the filing deadline approaches.
Educational documents
As part of its regular tasks regarding financial disclosure, every year the Board provides a series of educational and information documents for filers to utilize and reference during the “filing season”. For example, in FY2023 the Board provided the following documents: (a) an updated Frequently Asked Questions document regarding the City’s Financial Disclosure Rules; (b) a “Who Files What” document explaining which City officers and employees need to file which financial disclosure forms; (c) a revised set of Instructions for filing the City Form (a revised copy of which was published in FY2023); and (d) a series of “Questions of Note” that address common or prominent questions received from filers regarding all subject matters administer by the Board, including financial disclosure. All these documents can be found on the Board’s website.
Training
Every year, Board Staff provides financial disclosure filers training and information sessions to help them understand the requirements of the Financial Disclosure Rules and how to file their financial disclosure statements. In FY2023, Board Staff continued to use newly developed “Financial Disclosure 101” training/information sessions to provide basic information to financial disclosure filers, and to give them the opportunity to ask questions during a live session. These sessions took place on Zoom, which allowed participants to attend from anywhere they had phone or internet access. Board Staff continues to believe these sessions would not have been as well attended if they were provided solely as in-person events. As such, Board Staff plans to continue to use such virtual informational sessions going forward.
Individual guidance
Every year, the Board provides the regulated community individual guidance regarding compliance with the Financial Disclosure Rules. This entails addressing specific guidance requests from filers on a wide array of subjects. While many requestors approach the Board to address relatively substantive, legal questions on provisions of the Financial Disclosure Rules, the overwhelming majority of requestors contact the Board seeking technical guidance on how to login to, navigate, and report information on the Board’s Financial Disclosure System. This is especially the case for first-time filers who have never filed a financial disclosure form before and are unfamiliar with the online system. Regarding such technical requests, the Board usually receives hundreds of requests for technical assistance and guidance each year.
As in previous years, in FY2023, the Board received a large number of requests for guidance and responding to these requests dominated much of the Board’s work regarding its administration of the Financial Disclosure Rules. While requests for guidance occurred throughout the fiscal year, in FY2023, as in every other year, such requests spiked in April just prior to the May 1 filing deadline.
Lobbying
The City’s Lobbying Law ensures public disclosure of who is spending money to influence City governmental action. It requires those who pay people to lobby City officials to file regular reports detailing their expenditures. The City’s Lobbying Law is found at City Code Chapter 20-1200; Board Regulation No. 9 (Lobbying) provides a detailed interpretation of Chapter 20-1200.
The Philadelphia Lobbying Information System
Lobbyists, lobbying firms, and principals mandated to file by the Lobbying Law do so through the online Philadelphia Lobbying Information System (PLIS). Registration and reporting, as well as technical support, have been a web-based electronic process through PLIS since 2014.
PLIS is also the portal through which the public may search for information concerning lobbying activity in the City. This is discussed below in the “Using City Lobbying Data” section.
Disclosure Requirements of the City’s Lobbying Law
As explained below, the City’s Lobbying Law has two disclosure requirements.
Lobbying registrations
The first requirement is that principals who spend more than $2,500 on lobbying activity in a quarter must register with the Board. When they register, principals must provide basic information about themselves as well as list any lobbyists or lobbying firms they are using. Lobbying firms and lobbyists must also register if they receive more than $2,500 for lobbying activity in a quarter, although if a lobbyist is an employee of a principal, they only need to register if they also spent 20 hours or more on lobbying activity in the quarter.
Below are several charts that provide information on the lobbying registrations filed with the Board in recent years.
Lobbying expense reports
The second disclosure requirement in the City’s Lobbying Law regards lobbying expense reports. These reports are filed by the principal and capture the details of the principal’s lobbying activity in that quarter. This includes the amount of expenditures, the detail of communications, and any gifts, hospitality, or transportation provided to City officials and employees.
There are two types of lobbying communications reported each quarter: direct communications and indirect communications. Direct lobbying communications include, but are not limited to, written, in-person, telephone, and email contacts between a lobbying entity and a City official or employee to affect legislative action or administrative action. Indirect lobbying communications occur when a lobbying entity makes an effort to encourage others, including the general public, to take action that is intended to directly influence legislative action or administrative action. Examples of indirect lobbying methods include letter-writing campaigns, mailings, telephone banks, print and electronic media advertising, billboards, publications and educational campaigns on public issues. Total expenditures on communications can fluctuate from quarter to quarter and year to year depending upon the topics of interest to the public and the agendas of City Council and City agencies.
Information disclosed in quarterly expense reports filed by principals is available on the Board’s website and is accessible to the public as described in the “Using City Lobbying Data” section below.
Below are several charts that provide information on the lobbying expense reports that were filed with the Board in recent years.
Using and Accessing City Lobbying Data
As discussed above, the City Lobbying Law is a disclosure law and helps ensure transparency in City government. Its purpose is to provide information that members of the public can use to learn who is spending money to influence City policy.
Information disclosed by the filers in the lobbying community may be explored through the online lobbying system. Members of the public can use the database to search for, among other things, amounts spent on Philadelphia lobbying by principals, to identify City officials who were contacted by lobbyists and the subjects of those contacts, and to determine whether gifts were given to elected and appointed City officials. The public can search through the individual registrations and expense reports or may use several pre-set options to generate reports from the database. Board Staff are always available by telephone, email or in-person to assist interested individuals who want to search and sort the information in the searchable PLIS database.
The Board’s Filing-Related Assistance
As part of its work in administering the City’s Lobbying Law, the Board interacts with the regulated community in many ways. This primarily involves notifying the regulated community of their obligations under the law (especially the filing requirements), educating them about these obligations, and then individually assisting members of the community to satisfy these obligations. This work is summarized below and is further discussed in the Training and Advice sections of this Annual Report.
Alert and reminder of filing obligations
The first, introductory task for Board Staff is to inform and remind filers of the filing requirements, especially the quarterly deadlines for expense reports. Every year Board Staff incorporates various means to communicate with the regulated community. This includes social media postings, website updates, and targeted email communications. In this regard, Board Staff’s efforts always begin early, well-prior to filing deadlines, to give filers ample time to satisfy their filing obligations.
Educational documents
In FY2023, the Board continued to rely on a series of educational documents to help the regulated community comply with the requirements of the City’s Lobbying Law. These included: (a) a Frequently Asked Questions document regarding the City’s Lobbying Law; (b) a “City Lobbying Guide for Principals, Lobbyists and Lobbying Firms” explaining when and how individuals and entities must file lobbying registration and/or expense reports; and (c) a series of “Questions of Note” that address common or prominent questions received from members of the regulated community regarding all subject matters administered by the Board, including lobbying. All these documents can be found on the Board’s website.
Training
As in previous years, in FY2023, the Board offered trainings covering the basic requirements of the City's Lobbying Law for lobbyists, lobbying firms, and principals. These trainings specifically focused on the law’s registration and filing requirements, as well as provided technical guidance for Philadelphia's Lobbying Information System (PLIS) where users file both registration statements and expense reports.
As in all years since the COVID pandemic in 2020, these trainings were conducted virtually and have continued to be very successful as it appears such virtual trainings allowed for more attendees. These virtual trainings have been especially important in the lobbying context as many of the attendees do not reside in the City or even in the Commonwealth.
Individual guidance
Every year, the Board provides the regulated community individual guidance regarding complying with the City’s Lobbying Law.
This entails addressing specific guidance requests from lobbyists, lobbying firms and principals on a wide array of subjects. While many requestors contact the Board seeking guidance regarding specific provisions and requirements of the lobbying law, the vast majority of requestors seek technical guidance regarding registering and filing expense reports with the Board of Ethics in Philadelphia's Lobbying Information System (PLIS). Regarding the latter, requests for technical assistance usually peak during the weeks just prior to the deadlines for the four quarterly lobbying expense reports.
As in previous years, in FY2023, the Board received a large number of requests for guidance and responding to these requests dominated much of the Board’s work regarding its administration of the City’s Lobbying Law. More information about the Board’s work regarding this guidance can be found in the Advice section of this Annual Report.
Campaign Finance
City Code Chapter 20-1000 and Board Regulation No. 1 (Campaign Finance) establish the requirements that apply to candidates for City elective office, candidate political committees, and political committees.
The law has three main components:
Contribution limits
The City Law has specific rules regarding what is the maximum value of direct contributions a candidate running for City office may receive. Currently, an individual may contribute up to $3,100 to a candidate for City office per calendar year while a political committee may donate up to $12,600. If a candidate for City office makes total contributions of $250,000 or more of their personal resources to their own campaign, then the contribution limits for all candidates for that specific City office are doubled.
Required electronic filing of campaign finance reports
The City’s Campaign Finance Law has specific rules regarding when certain political contributions need to be reported in required campaign finance reports and what specific information regarding these contributions must be included in these reports.
One of the law’s most important requirements is that these campaign finance reports must be filed electronically. As a result, contribution and expenditure information quickly becomes publicly available in a searchable online format. To accomplish electronic filing, the Board provides a free filing software program to all candidates and committees.
Rules about how candidates use political committees and bank accounts for their campaigns
Generally, and subject to just a few exceptions, under the City’s Campaign Finance Law candidates for City elective office must use a single checking account and political committee for all contributions received and all expenditures made for their campaign.
A candidate may also establish separate, special committees to either raise and spend money for the defense of litigation arising directly from their campaign or raise and spend money for that candidate’s inauguration and transition to City office.
Campaign Finance Dashboard
In early 2023, the City created the City’s “Campaign Finance Dashboard,” an interactive visualization of Philadelphia’s campaign finance data to make it easier for the public to explore. This dashboard includes information from campaign finance filings from 2019 to the present.
The dashboard and data release were a collaboration between the Board and the Office of Innovation and Technology’s CityGeo team.
The dashboard is open to any member of the public, and the ways to utilize the dashboard are practically endless. Some examples include: examining contributions to or expenditures by individual candidates, as well as other filers like wards, unions, other PACs and more; the total contributions raised by candidates compared to each other; and what ZIP codes candidates received contributions from.
The Board is very excited about this new electronic tool as it represents a major development in making information about campaign finance more accessible. The Board, along with its City partners who collaborated on this project, plan to continue to work on and improve the dashboard in the years to come.
The City's 2023 Primary Election
As discussed in Chair Reed’s and Executive Director Creamer’s introductory “Annual Messages” of this Annual Report, issues regarding the City’s 2023 Primary Election dominated much of the Board’s work in FY2023.
In this election, candidates for Mayor, City Council, the three City Commissioners and the Sheriff were all on the ballot.
Importantly, this Primary Election marked the first time since 2015 in which there was no incumbent candidate running for Mayor. This fact alone resulted in a massive influx in political contributions and expenditures (both in volume and size) compared to other election years.
Various other elements added to this influx. First, many races, especially the Mayoral race, included high-profile, well-funded, and well-organized candidates. Each of these candidates alone received hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions and were involved in extensive campaign-related expenditures. Second, many of the candidates running for Mayor resigned from their City Council seats, resulting in open and often competitive races for many of the Council seats. As a result, these races, which are relatively dormant in terms of political contributions and expenditures in most years, saw large increases in campaign-related activity in FY2023.
This influx of contributions and contribution-related activity required the Board to dedicate much of its FY2023 work and resources to administering the City’s Campaign Finance Law. This work is further described below.
Amendments to Board’s Regulation No. 1 (Campaign Finance)
As further detailed in the Board’s FY2022 Annual Report, in June 2022 the Mayor James Kenney signed into law two new bills amending the City’s Campaign Finance Law. In July 2022, the Board, as part of its general preparations for the 2023 Primary Elections, immediately began the process of updating its Board Regulation No. 1 (Campaign Finance) to incorporate these amendments.
At its July 2022 monthly Board Meeting, the Board approved an amended version of Board Regulation No. 1 (Campaign Finance). A public hearing about this version was held in August 2022 and a finalized version was adopted in September 2022. The amended version became effective on October 3, 2022.
During this regulatory process, the Board spent countless hours editing and revising the regulatory text; researching various legal issues entailed in the text; reviewing comments and testimony from the regulated community; and discussing various issues among themselves and members of the City Law Department. The Board is very proud of the final document and the Board’s ability to produce such an outstanding regulation in such a relatively short period of time.
A finalized copy of Board Regulation No. 1 (Campaign Finance) can be found on the Board’s website.
The Board’s Filing-Related Assistance
Every year the Board assists the regulated community regarding the City’s Campaign Finance Law. This primarily involves notifying the regulated community of their obligations under the law, educating them about these obligations, and then individually assisting members of the community to satisfy these obligations. This work is summarized below and is further discussed in the Training and Advice sections of this Annual Report.
Alerts and reminders
The first, introductory task for the Board is to inform and remind the regulated community of the requirements under the City’s Campaign Finance Law - especially the requirements regarding filing campaign finance reports, which have specific, designated deadlines, and news about the doubling of contribution limits for certain races, which can occur at virtually any point up to an election.
As in most other election years, this process for the 2023 Primary Elections began months ahead of the actual election. In this regard, in FY2023, the Board continued to use various means to reach out to the regulated community including social media, the Board’s website, and emails. As a special part of these efforts, on December 28, 2022 the Philadelphia Inquirer published an op-ed, drafted by Executive Director Creamer and Chair Reed, regarding the City’s Campaign Finance Law’s restrictions on coordinated expenditures to alert the regulated community of these restrictions and, specifically, how those provisions differ from federal law.
Educational documents
As part of its regular tasks regarding administering the City’s Campaign Finance Law, every year the Board provides a series of educational and informational documents to the regulated community to utilize and reference. For example, in FY2023, in preparation for the 2023 Primary Election, the Board provided the following documents: (a) a Frequently Asked Questions document regarding the City’s Campaign Finance Law; (b) a Philadelphia Campaign Finance Resource Guide (dated Oct. 27, 2022) providing general summaries of the City’s rules and practical examples on how the rules apply; (c) a series of “Questions of Note” that address common or prominent questions received from members of the regulated community regarding all subject matters administered by the Board, including campaign finance; and (d) the Board’s newly amended Regulation No. 1 (Campaign Finance), discussed in the paragraphs above. All these documents can be found on the Board’s website.
Training
As in previous years, in FY2023, the Board offered trainings discussing the various elements of the City's Campaign Finance Law for all members of the regulated community. In conducting these trainings, the Board was especially sensitive to the fact that for many attendees, the 2023 Primary Election constituted their first experience with the City’s Campaign Finance Law.
In FY2023, the Board also provided special trainings to individual candidates regarding the candidate forms they are required to file as part of their personal obligations under the City’s Campaign Finance Law.
As in all years since the COVID pandemic in 2020, these trainings were conducted virtually, seemingly allowing for greater attendance.
Individual guidance
Every year the Board provides individual members of the regulated community specific guidance regarding the City’s Campaign Finance Law.
This includes addressing specific guidance requests from political campaigns and political donors regarding all aspects of the Campaign Finance Law: from the law’s anti-coordination provisions, to relatively routine, technical guidance regarding how to file and complete campaign finance reports on the City’s electronic system.
Given the circumstances involving the 2023 Primary Election (discussed above), in FY2023, the Board received a relatively large number of requests for guidance when compared to other years. Given these circumstances, there was an especially noteworthy influx of “first timers” who had never participated in the City’s campaign finance process before and were, as such, especially in need of individual guidance. Responding to these requests dominated much of the Board’s work regarding its administration of this law.
Such requests occurred throughout FY2023 but peaked in the weeks and months prior to the May 16, 2023 Primary Election. They continued, albeit at a diminished degree, into the closing months of FY2023, after the Primary Election, as the 2023 General Election (occurring in FY2024) approached.