WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE CO. (WOLF) \u2014 Action Together NEPA launched a signature collection effort Wednesday to place local insider trading ban questions on the November 2026 ballot in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties.<\/p>\n
The campaign began with a meeting at the organization\u2019s headquarters in Wilkes-Barre, where organizers outlined proposed charter amendments that would restrict insider stock trading by local elected officials and employees.<\/p>\n
Alisha Hoffman-Mirilovich, executive director of Action Together NEPA, said the effort was meant to give voters a direct say in whether local governments should add stricter rules for elected officials and employees, while also pushing for more transparency around public service and personal financial interests.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are angry, especially at a time when we\u2019re all struggling with the affordability of day-to-day life. We know that members of Congress, regardless of party, have been stock trading in Pennsylvania, and they are making money on us. The idea is to allow people a voice to say, enough is enough, and send this message to elected officials in Congress,\u201d said Hoffman-Mirilovich.<\/p>\n
Hoffman-Mirilovich added that the proposed referendums are possible because both counties have home rule charters, allowing voters to consider local changes through the ballot process.<\/p>\n
Action Together NEPA said the proposed amendments would require each county\u2019s accountability, conduct and ethics codes to prohibit elected officials and employees from making individual stock trades or prediction market bets based on nonpublic information learned through their official service.<\/p>\n
The amendments would also require the relevant ethics body in each county to produce an annual ethics report for county leadership using publicly available information.<\/p>\n
Petition circulation began June 16 and runs through Aug. 4, when the petitions must be filed. Any registered voter in the relevant county can sign, regardless of party.<\/p>\n
Organizers said they need 11,650 signatures in Luzerne County and 8,900 signatures in Lackawanna County to move the proposed questions forward.<\/p>\n