March 5, 2010: The House State Government Committee unanimously passed the campaign contribution limits bill (HB-2162), thanks in large part to pressure from Pennsylvania activists like you. The next goal is to get the bill reported out of the Appropriations Committee and onto the House floor for a vote.

If your representative serves on the House Appropriations Committee, please urge him or her send HB-2162 to the full House now.

Everyone on capitol hill knows that campaign contributions drive much, if not most, of what happens in the capitol. To see Democrats and Republicans unite behind a bill that would have a major impact on reducing the influence of special interest campaign money is refreshing. Hopefully this is sign that lawmakers of both parties are getting serious about cleaning up state and local government in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania now is just one of only eleven states that still permit individuals and special interest political action committees to contribute unlimited amounts of money to political candidates. Under current PA law donors are giving public officials five figure and six figure campaign contributions and then turning around to lobby them for special consideration in legislation, on enforcement of laws, and on contracts. They can even donate to judges before whom they may appear in court.

Pennsylvania is three decades behind most of the rest of the nation is this critical area of protecting our elections and government from corruption. The bill limits the amount of money and in-kind contributions that individuals, PACs and parties can contribute to candidates and other political committees. It provides more disclosure of who is making major investments in candidates, elevates penalties, prohibits candidates from using campaign funds to enrich their personal finances, and requires a user-friendly internet accessible data-base for citizens to check up on who is giving money to their elected officials.

Please email, call, or write to your legislator today to insist that the Appropriations Committee send HB-2162 to the House floor for a vote. Don't let them run out the clock on this important reform! Take action today at http://www.commoncause.org/PA/keepCFRmoving.

March 5, 2010: Pennsylvania has often been described as the "Wild West" of campaign financing.

This new study by the Common Cause Education Fund tracks the extent of the natural gas industry’s giving to elected officials and its success in rapidly expanding operations in the state before the potential for environmental damage from drilling has been fully studied.

Watch a KDKA report on how Common Cause is working to stop the drilling in Marcellus shale.

Download a copy of the "Deep Drilling, Deep Pockets" report.

March 19, 2010: At the beginning of the current legislative session only Pennsylvania and 12 other states failed to protect their governments, elections and citizens from the corrosive effects of unlimited campaign contributions. With New Mexico and Illinois enacting limits in 2009, it is down to Pennsylvania and ten other states. Will Pennsylvania be the last of the Dirty Dozen states to enact this long-overdue reform?

If we want to restore integrity to our state government, and competitiveness to our elections, the legislature must act now.

There are currently three campaign finance bills awaiting action. Please send a message today urging the House State Government Committee to pass a campaign contribution limits bill out of committee immediately. We need them to move on legislation now, so that there is time for it to pass the full House and Senate before the summer recess.

Take Action Today!

Analysis of Campaign Finance Legislation

Common Cause PA's recommended components of a strong bill

March 5, 2010: On Wednesday, March 31 at 7:00 p.m. the candidates for Governor of Pennsylvania will be debating government reform goals. Hosted by Common Cause/PA, The Committee of 70, the League of Women Voters and Harrisburg Area Community College, the debate will be broadcast live by the PA Cable Network (PCN).

This will be one of the few times that all four Democratic and both Republican primary candidates will be on the same stage. Cleaning up government in Pennsylvania clearly is one of the hottest topics on the campaign trail. Issues will include campaign finance reform, ethics, election protection, legislative reform, and redistricting. We hope you will join us by watching the debate on your local cable TV channel.

April 1, 2010 Update: Did you miss last night's debate?  It's not too late: Watch it online at http://www.pcntv.com/streaming/pages/election2010/gubdebate_str.html.

March 5, 2010: Did you know that Pennsylvania is one of just a handful of states that has no limits on the amount of money that special interests can give to political candidates?
If we want to restore integrity to our state government, and competitiveness to our elections, that has to change.

There are currently three campaign finance bills awaiting action – and your State Representative serves on the committee that needs to act.

Please send a message today urging your State Representative to pass a campaign contribution limits bill out of committee immediately. We need the House State Government Committee to move on legislation now, so that there is time for it to pass the full House and Senate before the summer recess.

Click here to take action.

Click here to read our analysis of PA campaign finance legislation.

Click here to see our recommended components of a strong bill.

November 12, 2009: “Constitutions are important. They are contracts specifying the terms and conditions by which we the people permit our elected and appointed officials to govern us. They are the blueprints for our great and unique experiment in self-government.”

Over recent years there have been increasing calls – both inside and outside the capitol – for a state constitutional convention. In response, the Common Cause Education Fund in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention Commission (comprised of Common Cause/PA, the Commonwealth Foundation, Democracy Rising/PA and the League of Women Voters of PA Education Fund) has issued a new report exploring the history of constitutional conventions in the Keystone State, modern political thought on constitutional conventions, convention logistics, new opportunities for conventions in an era of modern communication technology, and observations about reforms.

Click here to read more.

Click here to download the full report.

November 9, 2009: Elections improvement advocates and experts from across Pennsylvania will assemble for a day-long symposium in Harrisburg on December 4 to discuss observations and experiences from recent elections and prepare for the upcoming 2010 election cycle. The strengths and weaknesses of our current system, as well as threats to the system and opportunities for change will be examined. The end goal is to identify potential improvements to Pennsylvania’s electoral process that will further strengthen accessibility and accuracy for all voters. At this symposium, participants will:

* Strengthen relationships with fellow voters’ rights advocates and public officials;

* Share and enhance knowledge on key issues;

* Build a more effective information and response network with kindred advocates; and

* Construct an action agenda for 2010.

Please join us for a dynamic dialogue between voters’ rights advocates, legislators and the election officials who administer Pennsylvania’s election processes. Click here to register.

September 16: On September 4, Common Cause/PA and its co-plaintiffs asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a lower court ruling in its case on the state legislature’s violations of the state constitution which led to the illegal passage of the 2005 pay grab, and the alleged improper deal-making between state Supreme Court justices and legislative leaders to acquire pay raises for judges.

The lower courts ruled that Common Cause/PA and its allies have no right to sue in the underlying case because any harm inflicted on us was equally experienced by every other citizen of PA, and thus neither we, nor anyone else, have any cognizable right to action in the courts.

The lower courts basically said, if every citizen is harmed in the same general manner, then no one has a right to sue. Common Cause/PA contends that this flies in the face of decades of Supreme Court decisions. Had it been the judicial standard in the 1950s and 60s none of the groundbreaking civil rights litigation of that era would have been possible. The determination of the lower courts seriously jeopardizes all citizen groups’ access to the courts to address constitutional violations. Common Cause/PA believes the lower courts are wrong on the facts and on their interpretation of standing. We also believe that because federal circuit courts across the nation have applied theories on standing that are not only widely divergent, but in many cases contradictory, the U.S. Supreme Court must establish and apply a uniform position to which all courts must adhere.


To see the full Common Cause/PA filing to the Supreme Court, please click here.

August 5: This "is a crisis that is causing real harm to Pennsylvania – to its people, its businesses, and to government itself – and it doesn't have to be this way" said Barry Kauffman, Executive Director of Common Cause/PA. He then called on legislators to fix the budget development process which is playing a major role in the stalemate. "While you're sitting around for weeks on end, waiting for your leaders to end their stare-down on the budget, why don't YOU fix the system so that these budget fiascos are unlikely to ever happen again"

During a capitol press conference today, Common Cause/PA reissued a budgeting reform proposal, first offered after the 1991 budget standoff. Kauffman noted, "there are better ways of designing and passing fair, effective and timely state budgets" and indicated that if the Common Cause proposal had been enacted, the current stalemate probably would not be happening.



Read the press release

Read CC/PA's proposal

Read CC/PA's press conference remarks

June 23, Philadelphia, PA - As Pennsylvania debates further expanding legalized gambling to include tables games in casinos, and possibly video poker machines in bars and clubs, the Common Cause Education Fund released a study showing that the gaming industry gave $4.4 million in campaign contributions to political candidates and committees in the state from 2001-08.

Pennsylvania is one of the few states that does not limit campaign contributions. In April of this year, the state supreme court overturned a ban on contributions from donors with a financial stake in a casino, so that gaming interests can give as much as they want to elected officials as they lobby to further expand legalized gambling. The study includes a list of the Top 20 Donors and Top 20 Recipients from 2001-2008. Among the top three donors are Louis DeNaples, whose casino license was temporarily revoked after the Dauphin County Attorney's Office questioned whether he had lied about his ties to organized crime, and Peter DePaul, who brought the lawsuit that voided Pennsylvania's ban on gaming contributions.

"This study helps explain the gaming industry's winning streak in Pennsylvania," said James Browning, Associate Director for Development for Common Cause/PA, "and it suggests that gaming interest will go on a giving binge now that they have the chance."

In the absence of any limits on the industry's ability to make political contributions, and with state legislators not required to file their next campaign finance reports until January 2010, Common Cause/Pennsylvania called on the legislature and statewide officials to voluntarily disclose gaming contributions they have received since the ban was struck down in April. Otherwise, contributions made since the decision will not have to be disclosed until January 2010, long after the legislature may have voted to expand gambling.

The complete study is available at http://www.commoncause.org/PA/GamingReport

June 11, 2009: Pennsylvania is one of 12 states that has yet to limit campaign contributions to candidates, a policy that welcomes large donations from wealthy donors and special interests.  In an effort to begin much-needed campaign finance reform, State Representative David Levdansky (D-Allegheny/Washington Counties) has introduced legislation that would limit individual contributions to candidates running for county or local offices to $500 for an entire election cycle.  Contributions to state-wide candidates would be capped at $2,400, also the current federal limit as directed in the Federal Elections Campaign Act.

Levdansky, the House Finance Committee Chairman, stated in a June 3 press conference, "It's like the Wild West in Pennsylvania; there are no rules when it comes to campaign fundraising.  This free-for-all style of raising money has eroded public confidence and results in the legislative process being tainted before an elected official is ever elected into office."

While the focus of the bill is on limiting campaign contributions, additional provisions establish contribution reporting requirements for businesses receiving government contracts of over $50,000, prohibit the use of campaign funds for personal use, greatly increase the fines for late filing of campaign finance reports, and strengthen employment reporting requirements for any individual donating more than $100.  It also contains numerous safeguards to prevent politicians from evading the law.

Levdansky's bill is a first step towards eradicating political corruption revolving around campaign contributions, and its introduction could not have come at a more important time.  As calls for government transparency ring throughout the state and the nation, citizens are turning their heads towards the importance of changing campaign finance to bring about better government.  "Campaign finance reform is the mother of all reforms," Levdansky said. "While we talk about tax reform, health-care reform, insurance reform, education reform and a host of other critical issues impacting the lives of our constituents, true reform is impossible unless we curb the influence of special interest money in political campaigns."

We need your help: Call your PA state representative and ask them to support Levdansky's bill.  Click here to read the PA House press release.
 

Please help support Common Cause PA's efforts to clean up the way Pennsylvania government operates!

March 17, 2009: Once again the reputation of Pennsylvania has been besmirched by the very public misdeeds of a major government official. The temptation will be to circle the wagons and blame that one official for all that went wrong. But we all know the problems that led to the conviction of former Senator Vince Fumo for corrupt practices go far beyond the actions of one man. The problems are institutional, broad and deep. The drumbeat of exposed corrupt practices can only lead to the conclusion that a major series of sweeping reforms must implemented in Pennsylvania government.

Common Cause/PA has called upon Governor Rendell and the leaders of the House and Senate to convene a special session of the General Assembly to focus exclusively on cleaning up state and local government in the Keystone State (click here to see press release and list of essential reforms).

Why a special session? Because the General Assembly needs a targeted laser-like focus on these grievous problems. At a time when government has little or no extra funds to pursue its objectives, the legislature could, and should, be pursuing major institutional reforms – all of which are long-overdue, and few of which have any significant cost.

 

Help Support Common Cause PA's Efforts to Clean Up the Way Pennsylvania Government Operates

Read the press release...

December 1: Please join us for this inaugural annual discussion between voters’ advocates and government leaders who can produce positive change.

When: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 from 9:00am to 3:00pm
Where: Rachel Carson Building, Market Street, Between 4th and 5th Streets (across the street from the train station) in Harrisburg, PA

We have reached capacity for this event and are no longer accepting registrations.  Thanks!

October 22, 2008: Many political and election experts claim that the upcoming November 4 election will be the most important in a half century. All acknowledge that Pennsylvania is a pivotal swing state, and therefore may be the target of dirty tricks designed to depress turnout, misdirect and harass voters, or otherwise deny Pennsylvanians their right to vote.

The key is to be an informed voter. Know your rights. Defend your rights. Report abuses. The 1-866-OUR-VOTE hotline will be available throughout Election Day to advise you and, if necessary, provide attorneys to defend you. It also will help detect problem trends around the state. Click here for some important principles and practices to remember!

Click here for voting rights information.

October 6, 2008: Join us in our campaign to protect Pennsylvania voters from losing their vote through intimidation or machine or human error. Common Case Pennsylvania is recruiting hundreds of volunteers to work as volunteer poll watchers on Election Day. Under the direction of our staff, these volunteers will visit polling places to make sure that proper procedures are being followed, and incidents of voter intimidation or faulty machines are reported and investigated.

Volunteers are need in every part of the state. In 2004, thousands of Pennsylvanians were threatened with the loss of their vote due to
• Unprocessed Voter Registrations
• Partisan voter challenges, voter intimidation and deception
• Language barriers
• Incorrect use of emergency and provisional ballots
• Inadequate preparation by election officials.

The 2008 elections are considered by many to be most important in more than a half century. This Election Day, if a voter is wrongly denied the right to vote, or if faulty voting machines or faulty election procedures threaten the integrity of our election, you can help Common Cause identify the problem and take corrective action before it is too late. By investing just a few hours of your time, you can help make sure that, for the next few years, our state and country are governed by those elected officials voters meant to support on election day.

To volunteer and find out when you can attend a short training that will qualify you to help us on Election Day, please fill out this form.