Official:Providing for the submission to the qualified electors of the City of Philadelphia of an amendment to Article VIII, Chapter 5 of The Philadelphia Home Rule Charter, entitled "Referenda Approved by the Voters," by adding a new section providing that the citizens of Philadelphia urge the United States Congress to propose, and the Pennsylvania General Assembly to ratify, an amendment to the United States Constitution that would defend democracy from the corrupting effects of undue corporate power by overturning the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission; fixing the date of a special election for such purpose; prescribing the form of ballot questions to be voted on; and authorizing the appropriate officers to publish notice and to make arrangements for the special election.
Sponsor: Councilmember Quiñones Sánchez
Introduced: January 31, 2013
: Committee on Law and Government
Status: Lapsed
This bill was introduced in the 2012–2015 Council term and when that term ran out. The public record shows no committee vote and no floor vote at any stage, so no member of Council ever went on record for or against it.
That is not unusual here. Of the 8,465 bills introduced between 2000 and 2025, 1,624 lapsed without a single recorded vote. Ninety percent of bills that became law carry a roll call. Three percent of lapsed bills do. How this works.
This bill asks Philadelphians to urge Congress and the Pennsylvania General Assembly to propose a constitutional amendment to limit corporate power in elections, following the Citizens United Supreme Court decision.
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