SUPPORTERS SAY there's nothing sinister behind House Bill 1130, which would eliminate the electronic filing of campaign-finance records and undermine the Philadelphia Board of Ethics.
Introduced in April, HB 1130 was passed on July 3 with no hearings, no testimony, nothing. It might've started as a piece of innocent legislation, ensuring that elderly or technically challenged campaign treasurers would not be required to file campaign finance data via computer.
But the result is a mess that the Senate must clean up. That may not occur until the Legislature finally passes the state budget, then returns from summer break.
The bill is poorly thought out. It would destroy the city Ethics Board's powerful tool for transparency and the ability to follow money into and out of a campaign. It was because of such tracking that Congressman and mayoral candidate Chaka Fattah had to reimburse $53,000 that was questioned.
We don't think that supporters of the bill like Reps. Rosita Youngblood and John Sabatina Jr. deliberately sought to upend the city's campaign-finance reforms. But, in its current version, no one is required to file campaign reports with the secretary of the commonwealth, the county Board of Elections of any other office of a county or city of the first class (meaning Philadelphia and its Ethics Board). And the law would take effect immediately after its final passage and signing by the governor.
This raises some questions. Are there candidates who want to hide something? Is this another effort by the state to show Philadelphia who really is in charge? It also appears to dismiss the bill by Rep. Dwight Evans that gave Philadelphia the right to have its own campaign-finance laws.
The fear that there are crotchety treasurers waiting in line at the Records Department fearful of having to hunt and peck on computer keyboards is overblown. Records can be filed six ways, and from any computer with Internet access. The Ethics Board also offers computer training. At just over one page, HB 1130 carries enormous potential to destroy what's taken years to create: A transparent, active ethics board and a campaign finance law that level the playing field and have shown they work.
The House voted 200-1 for it without studying the bill. The Senate, once the budget is out of the way, should flat-out deep-six HB 1130, or at least hold hearings on its effects. *