Four Democratic PA House members have introduced a bill to bar corporations from contributing to political campaigns in Pennsylvania as Democratic state lawmakers work to enact campaign finance reforms.
The measure would rewrite the state’s corporate charter to ensure corporations do not have “any power to directly or indirectly engage in election activity or ballot question activity.”
Under the proposal, any corporation that does engage in election activity would be stripped of its charter and business privileges. It would also face civil action from the state Attorney General.
Rep. Joe Webster (D-Montgomery), along with co-sponsors Reps. Tarik Khan (D-Philadelphia), Paul Friel (D-Chester), and Ben Waxman (D-Philadelphia), introduced the bill, which has been referred to the House State Government Committee.
Rep. Webster said the bill was a response to a spike in corporate spending after the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission Supreme Court decision.
“In 2024, all by itself, one year, federal elections saw over $4 billion in outside spending, and that’s nearly 12 times the number prior to Citizens United,” he said at a press conference Wednesday. “The power of that money diminishes the power of the Pennsylvania voter.”
Rep. Khan added,
“I’m not a lawyer … But I know that corporations should not be racing to buy politicians,”…“We need common sense. We need to protect our politics. We need to protect our institutions. We need to make sure that corporations are not in a race to buy politicians to prevent action on issues that are important to the public.”
Earlier this summer the PA House passed a bill with bipartisan support, also sponsored by Rep. Webster, that would prohibit corporations with foreign ownership from using their money to influence state elections. HB 497 is now before the PA Senate’s Committee on State Government.
Rep. Webster said he expects the new bill (HB 2728, currently in the House’s State Government committee) to pass the House with bipartisan support, but acknowledges that it may not make to Gov. Shapiro’s desk this year.
“We tee this up now. We make sure it’s an issue. We’re going to see the influence of money in the election by November,” he said. “Then we come back in ’27 and get this done.”
I hope the Democratic National Committee recognizes that neutering Citizens United should be, and is, a priority among a great number of voters across party lines, including rank and file Republicans and independents.
So far, they have not seen fit to add this issue to their national platform.
We’ll get straight to the point: The financial hardships that Daily Kos is facing this year are tough.
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Power matters.