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Philadelphia voters add small-business preferences and a permanent arts office to the city charter

Philadelphia voters add small-business preferences and a permanent arts office to the city charter

Rule Changes Philadelphia, PA local

Two amendments passed with about 79% and 84% support, letting the city favor local firms on contracts up to $500,000 and locking Creative Philadelphia into the rulebook.

2 days ago: Voters approve both charter amendments

Overview

Updated 1 hour ago

Philadelphia spends more than $1 billion a year buying construction, supplies and services, and for most of that it had to take the lowest qualified bid. On Tuesday, voters changed the rulebook to let the city favor small, Philadelphia-based firms, even when they charge more.

The same ballot made Creative Philadelphia a permanent city office, after a 2026 study found the city had the steepest per-person drop in local arts funding among 10 cities surveyed. Neither measure guarantees money. Both change who can win it, and who can abolish it.

Why it matters

Philadelphia can now steer part of its $1 billion contracting spend to local firms, and its arts office can no longer be dissolved by a new mayor.

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Key Indicators

78.8%
Yes share on the contracting question
344,912 yes votes to 92,839 no, with 99% of divisions reporting.
83.6%
Yes share on the arts office question
367,515 yes votes to 71,993 no in unofficial results.
$500,000
New ceiling for small-business set-asides
Up from $100,000; contracts from $75,000 to $500,000 can go to small local firms that are not the lowest bidder.
$1B+
Annual city contracting spend
What Philadelphia and its publicly funded partners pay businesses each year.
43%
Voter turnout
Approximate city turnout for the midterm election.
15
Maximum Creative Philadelphia staff
Positions exempt from standard city hiring rules; the office currently has about 10 employees.

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People Involved

Cherelle Parker
Cherelle Parker
Mayor of Philadelphia
Signed both ballot measures; her 2025 executive order set the small-business approach
 Katherine Gilmore Richardson
Katherine Gilmore Richardson
Philadelphia City Council Majority Leader
Introduced the contracting amendment on behalf of Council President Kenyatta Johnson
 Kenyatta Johnson
Kenyatta Johnson
Philadelphia City Council President
Backed the contracting amendment introduced on his behalf
 Isaiah Thomas
Isaiah Thomas
Philadelphia City Councilmember
Introduced the amendment making Creative Philadelphia permanent
 Valerie Gay
Valerie Gay
Chief Cultural Officer, Creative Philadelphia
Runs the office now written into the charter

Organizations Involved

City of Philadelphia
City of Philadelphia
Municipal government
Will implement both charter amendments after certification

The city government whose rulebook, the Home Rule Charter, voters amended on Tuesday.
CP
Creative Philadelphia
City arts and culture office
Now established in the Home Rule Charter

The city office that runs grant programs, public art and arts education support.
America First Legal
America First Legal
Conservative legal nonprofit
Its 2025 suit prompted the shift away from race- and gender-based preferences

The group that sued Philadelphia over contracting preferences in 2025, leading the city to settle and rewrite its rules.
PC
Philadelphia City Commissioners
Election administration
Reported unofficial results; certification pending

The three-member board that runs Philadelphia elections and reports the vote counts.

Timeline

2025 November 2026

3 events Latest: 2 days ago

  1. Voters approve both charter amendments

    Latest Election

    The contracting question passes with about 79% and the arts office question with about 84%, according to unofficial results.

  2. Parker shifts contracting focus to business size and location

    Executive Action

    After the city settles the suit, Mayor Cherelle Parker signs an executive order replacing race- and gender-based preferences with criteria based on business size and Philadelphia location.

  3. Federal lawsuit targets race- and gender-based contracting preferences

    Legal

    America First Legal sues Philadelphia over its practice of aiming 35% of contracting dollars at businesses owned by women, people of color and people with disabilities.

Scenarios

1

Council writes the small-business preference rules

Likely Resolves by Q2 2027

Discussed by: Billy Penn and City & State Pennsylvania, which both note the amendment authorizes preferences without writing them

The charter change gives City Council authority to create bid preferences and set-asides, but the actual rules still need an ordinance. Until Council passes one, the practical effect is limited to the raised $500,000 set-aside ceiling and new discretion over bond requirements for construction contracts. Council's next move determines whether the amendment changes bidding in practice.

2

New contracting preferences draw a federal lawsuit

Possible Resolves by End of 2027

Discussed by: Contracting-preference litigation history, including the 2025 America First Legal suit

The 2025 suit ended race- and gender-based preferences. A size- and location-based system is race-neutral on its face, which courts have generally treated more permissively, but a challenge could still argue the rules favor incumbent local firms or operate as a proxy. A suit would freeze implementation while it works through the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

3

Creative Philadelphia outlasts its budget

Likely Resolves by Jul 1, 2027

Discussed by: Billy Penn, which notes the amendment guarantees an office, not an appropriation

The charter now requires an arts office and a chief cultural officer, but the mayor and Council still set the money each year. The Philadelphia Cultural Fund was cut from $5 million to $3.5 million in the latest budget, and the city had the steepest per-person drop in local arts funding among 10 cities studied between 2019 and 2024. Permanence protects the office's existence, not its spending.

Historical Context

3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

1978

Frank Rizzo's third-term charter amendment (1978)

Mayor Frank Rizzo sought to amend the Home Rule Charter so he could run for a third consecutive term. The campaign drew widespread opposition, and voters rejected the amendment by a 2-to-1 margin.

Then

Rizzo left office at the end of his second term.

Now

The charter's term limits held, and the vote became the standard example of Philadelphia voters blocking a mayoral power grab.

Why this matters now

It shows that Philadelphia voters do reject charter changes, even though they approve most of them. Both 2026 questions passed easily by comparison.

2007, 2014

Resign-to-run repeal attempts (2007 and 2014)

Voters twice rejected amendments that would have repealed the city's resign-to-run rule, which forces officeholders to give up their seats before running for another office.

Then

The rule stayed in place both times.

Now

The rejections reinforced that charter amendments touching political power face more scrutiny than administrative ones.

Why this matters now

The 2026 measures were administrative and procurement changes rather than power shifts, which helps explain their wide margins.

2000-2026

Philadelphia's charter amendment wave (2000-present)

Philadelphia has passed more than 80 charter amendments since 2000, including about two dozen since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Pew research cited by City & State Pennsylvania.

Then

Amending the charter has become a routine way to settle municipal policy questions.

Now

The charter functions less as a fixed constitution and more as a live policy document updated almost every election cycle.

Why this matters now

Tuesday's two questions fit a long pattern. The unusual part is what they change: procurement rules and the status of a single city office.

Sources

(4)
Billy Penn at WHYY City & State Pennsylvania PhillyVoice Philadelphia Tribune