Ban Lobbyist Gifts
The Bottom Line
Pennsylvania currently allows legislators to receive gifts as long as an explicit exchange (votes for gifts) is not happening. This type of exchange is very hard to prove making it so that bribery is essentially legalized. I strongly support a gift ban that would disallow any gifts from lobbyists, period. That includes those with business before the government, those with an economic interest at stake, and those who are regulated by government agencies. With this legislation, making the difficult-to-prove direct connection between gifts and actions/votes won’t be necessary to stop lobbyists in their tracks.
Why is this issue important to Jay?
Our elected representatives should listen to our constituents and not lobbyists - they should be legislating for Pennsylvania residents and not for corporations that operate in Pennsylvania. While lobbyist gifts have been banned in many other states, a push to ban cash gifts was regulated to chamber policy rather than legislation, and an outright ban on gifts has solely moved through initial committee hearings. Without a ban, people can report ‘small’ gifts under 650 dollars if and when they want and while ethics committees have uncovered ideological groups purchasing expensive gifts, such as international travel, for our legislators, it is unclear how much is happening behind closed doors. The fact that we do not have an outright ban results in a culture of corruption within our legislature. We should be furious that our legislatures are taking bribes from special interest groups while simultaneously pocketing their per diems.
Why is this issue important in District 23?
Our legislators need to be responding to our constituents. While I believe that lobbying and activism can be important activities, as it can help inform legislators of constituent issues, gift giving should not be part of the equation. Fracking is a prime example of the polemics of lobbyist gifts. The majority of Pennsylvanians oppose fracking, but the fracking industry has a corrupting force on our legislators both through publicly financing campaigns (both on the left and the right) and through the more hidden practice of gift giving. In 2020, for example, fracking advocate House Speaker Turzai accepted a 11K flight a Pittsburgh-area businessman involved in two-fracking related companies. I don’t think legislators would support fracking if there weren’t gifts - while campaign financing might support a candidate to get elected, it is the gifts that directly line politicians’ purses.
What is the incumbent doing?
Dan Frankel has problematic campaign financiers (including donations from the fracking industry as recently as 2017) and has received financial gifts in the past that likely would influence his legislation. Five years ago, for example, he reported receiving a gift of $2,500 for a sponsored trip to Israel and has had gifts to attend conferences in Ireland. In related news, Dan Frankel has also made headlines for his charging taxpayers the most for per diems, falling in the top 25 worst offenders in 2015/2016. While his campaign website’s message is that cash gifts are an embarrassment to the state, we need legislators that push for banning all gifts - cash and non-cash - and push for ending corruption in Harrisburg.
Jay’s plan
This is simple - we need to ban gifts. Period. The March on Harrisburg has been tackling this issue head on, but our legislators aren’t listening because they benefit from the status quo. We need more legislators who will fight against bribery in Harrisburg. I support HB 1945 and more stringent legislation to fight corruption in Pennsylvania.