Campaign Finance

“There are a lot of decisions that can be influenced and nudged a particular way with high-dollar donations.”

“It is vitally important that every American knows where their candidates stand on protecting democracy in the wake of January 6th and its lingering threat,” said Common Cause president Karen Hobert Flynn.

In the wake of the last massive City Hall scandal in the early 2000s, a wave of reforms followed, including restrictions on pay-to-play contracting, campaign finance limits, lobbying disclosure, and ethics oversight. But as this trial made clear, glaring vulnerabilities remain. To move forward, Philadelphia and Pennsylvania should start with reforms in three key areas.

"There should be complete transparency. People should always know where your donations come from and exactly what the dollar amount is," Ali said.

“Pittsburgh and other cities, and counties, need to be more forward and be more aggressive at setting up their own campaign finance laws,” said Micah Sims, executive director of Common Cause Pennsylvania, a nonpartisan government accountability group.