If you read YPP semi-regularly, you know that John Dougherty and his union (Local 98) have been trying to overturn Philadelphia and Pennsylvania (and really, all of the US) campaign finance law. A couple weeks ago, one reason why they were trying to hide how they spent their cash became a little clearer.

It is not clear whether they are dropping their objections to our campaign finance laws, but this is promising:

...Despite a months-long legal battle, Ethics Board Executive Director said during a meeting today that on Monday a union official contacted him directly and invited him to come to the union's Spring Garden Street offices and review the vouchers. Creamer, and another staffer, did that for two hours yesterday.

Today - actually, during the ethics board meeting - two yellow envelopes containing still more vouchers arrived at the ethics board's Sansom Street offices.

So what do the vouchers reveal? Creamer won't say because he's not done looking at them. But he did say: " We hope their present level of compliance and cooperation will continue."

Good to see.

Against the backdrop of Local 98's constitutional lawsuit to overturn the city and state's campaign finance disclosure requirements (oral arguments on the motion to dismiss were heard in federal court last week) and ongoing wrestling over enforcement (see, e.g., Tommy St. Hill's 'stolen' laptop), this Thursday the American Consitution Society and Cozen O'Connor's Adam Bonin are hosting a talk on the future of campaign finance reform.

Can Campaign Finance Reform Actually Work?

"Post-Watergate reforms of the federal campaign finance system appear to be threatened by increasingly expensive campaigns and the usage of independent organizations, like 527's. Here in Philadelphia, we have just gone through our first Mayoral election governed by campaign finance limits. What system will actually work to reduce the influence of amassed wealth on the political process, is reform even necessary, or do we need to rethink federal and state campaign finance systems from scratch?"

We are joined by two guests with unique perspectives on this topic. In over thirty years of practice, Robert Bauer has represented national party committees, candidates, political committees, individuals, federal officeholders, corporations, trade associations and tax-exempt groups on various issues of campaign finance law, including serving as counsel to two presidential candidates. Through his work on The Committee of Seventy, Philadelphia's principal political reform organization, Zack Stalberg has worked to make government more efficient, fair and transparent by promoting reforms to demand ethical conduct of public officials and promote governmental efficiency.

Featuring:
Robert Bauer, Partner and Firmwide Chair, Political Law Practice, Perkins Coie LLP
Zack Stalberg, President and CEO, The Committee of Seventy

Date: Thursday, June 5, 2008
Time: 5:00pm - 6:00pm
Cozen O'Connor, 1900 Market Street

There is no cost to attend this event. CLE credit availability pending (1.0 hrs). Cost of CLE credit will be $25. Contact: Adam Bonin, abonin@cozen.com.

I'm going, because I am a dork. And because I really want to but have never met Zack Stalberg. And because it's good to learn about campaign finance law before the current Supreme Court makes it a historical memory.