Artículo de opinión del líder demócrata en el Senado, Jay Costa
En las papeletas de este año hay tres escaños críticos en el Tribunal Supremo del Estado, un escaño en el Tribunal Superior y otro en el Tribunal de la Commonwealth, así como cargos en las filas del condado y puestos municipales que influyen en la forma en que los ciudadanos son juzgados o representados. Estas elecciones son de interés estatal e importancia local.
A pesar del carácter parroquial de la mayoría de las elecciones municipales, es muy probable que la elección de los magistrados del Tribunal Supremo, los jueces de los tribunales superiores y de la Commonwealth y los concursos para los cargos de menor importancia atraigan este año millones de dólares de grupos de interés externos y contribuyentes adinerados de fuera del estado. Estos "inversores" creen que pueden influir en la política estatal con sus chequeras. Gran parte de esa financiación no se declarará o se declarará muy poco.
Pennsylvanians deserve better. Seats on the high court and other state courts, county offices and municipal offices should not be thought of as investment products. Voters should be wary of being swayed by outside influences and so-called “dark money.” Sadly, there is too much outside influencing of elections and voters are blinded by the money cloak that shades their knowledge of candidates. There is a better way.
I recently introduced legislation (Senate Bill 11) a measure that provides for campaign finance limitations, along with several other important reforms. The corrupting influence of money in politics is known objectively and anecdotally to most Pennsylvanians. Our citizens are not alone in thinking that too much money in politics corrupts. Nationally, according to a Gallup poll, 79 percent of Americans support limits on campaign fundraising.
This election season has reminded all of us of the need to clean up the campaign finance system and our campaign finance laws. We can do better than to hope that things get better. We must act and build fairness and equality in our electoral system by providing reforms for how candidates raise money and disclose shadowy donors.
The measure I introduced will put these stringent restrictions in place:
- Limit the expenditures and donations by and to a candidate, political action committee (PAC), political party or other person, for the purpose of influencing election;
- Require disclosure of super PAC donors;
- Require stockholder approval of expenditures on political activity.
Pennsylvania’s uncapped campaign finance rules, confounding Supreme Court decisions, and outside influence by national super PAC’s underscore what is wrong in our political system. Campaign expenses are increasing exponentially and driving elected officials and candidates to spend more and more time raising money instead of focusing on important issues or solving challenging problems. Fact is, in Pennsylvania’s most recent gubernatorial election, candidates spent a combined $82 million dollars. Races for the state Senate are frequently rising above the $2 million benchmark.
We must act soon to restore confidence in our electoral process and shield our citizens from a bombardment by outside dollars and outside contributors who have no interest in quality, responsive government. This can be accomplished by adopting tough, but fair, campaign finance reforms such as those prescribed in my legislation.
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