PA. Is One of the Few States With No Limits on Political Contributions by Individuals
PA. has no limits on the amounts of political contributions by individuals. Most states do have numeric limits on contributions by any one person to any one campaign (which exist at the Federal level and in Philadelphia).
http://www.pennlive.com/editorials/index.ssf/2010/05/pa_needs_campaign_finance_limi.html
The above article is from a couple years ago, but the situation has not changed:
"In last year’s state Supreme Court race, the two candidates vying for an open seat spent $4.7 million in cash and in-kind contributions. What is troubling about that is recent research showing that 60 percent of the cases before the Supreme Court includes at least one litigant, lawyer or law firm who has contributed to the campaign of at least one of the seven justices.
As for the Legislature, fundraising has become a second profession for some members. The lax laws mean a candidate can spend an enormous amount of money on a campaign. This puts pressure on incumbents to keep their coffers filled in case of a well-financed challenge. No longer is it unusual for freshman lawmakers to hold fundraising breakfasts just a month or two after they are elected. It has gotten so bad that even some lobbyists, tired of getting pinched all the time for campaign cash, want to see reform. "
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PA. does limit contributions by corporations and unions, but our illustrious US Supreme Court recently overturned that type of state ban on corporate contributions in Montana, so PA's ban may be vulnerable. Most of those bans on corporate contributions date to the Theodore Roosevelt era.
