Your City Council is voting on bills right now.
Do you know what's in them?
Every bill. Plain English. When a bill has a real decision in it, you get the strongest case for it and the strongest case against it, so you can follow along and make up your own mind.
“Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people.”
– John Adams
One bill. Both sides. You decide.
We don't tell you what to think. For a bill still moving through Council, we write the strongest honest case for it and the strongest honest case against it, argued only from what the bill actually says. Then you make up your own mind.
Not every bill gets an argument. A zoning map change or a parking rule is marked as routine instead, and a bill whose arguments cannot be grounded in its own text is left without one.
How it works
Every bill, every day
Both sides, argued
The case for
Protects tenants from a cost they cannot see coming, using a process the City already runs.
The case against
Shifts the enforcement burden onto the City, with no funding named to carry it.
Every figure checked against the bill text.
You decide, then act
Vote your position, save bills you care about, and contact your council member directly, all in one place.
What makes it different
Plain English
Legal titles like "An Ordinance amending Chapter 9-1100…" become "Zoning change near the Navy Yard." No law degree required.
Both Sides, Argued
When a bill still before Council carries a real decision, you get the strongest honest case for it and the strongest honest case against it, side by side, with every figure checked against the bill text. Routine housekeeping is marked as routine rather than argued into a fight it does not have.
Your Council Members
Full profiles for all 17 council members: voting record, sponsored bills, district map, and direct contact info so you can make your voice heard.
Go deeper
Budget Explorer
Where does the money actually go? Explore 25 years of Philadelphia's budget: every department and fund, adjusted for inflation or per resident. The General Fund grew from $2.8B to nearly $7B; see what that bought.
Explore the budget →The Blog
Latest investigation
A Councilmember Plans to Retire Between Terms and Collect $350,000. Three Bills Would Have Stopped It. None Got a Vote.
Philadelphia closed DROP to elected officials in 2010 but let everyone already in office keep it. Three earlier bills would have closed it to them too. None got a vote, and neither did 23 more on the rules for the city's own elected officials.
Read it · 9 min →Built for Philadelphians, by Philadelphians
City Council passes hundreds of bills every year: zoning changes that reshape your block in East Kensington, tax abatements that decide who pays for what in West Philly, public safety measures that reach every neighborhood from Roxborough to Point Breeze. Most residents never find out until it's already law.
Open Common Ground is a free, independent civic tool with no ads and no corporate backing. The bill pages take no side: summaries stick to what each bill says, and a bill still in play gets the case for and the case against. The blog is where the site's own opinions live, and it is labeled that way.