Mar 18, 2018 3 min read

Sure, it’s a campaign season, and Gov. Tom Wolf hopes to get his ticket punched for a second term in November. But the proposals that Pennsylvania’s chief executive made early last week that would rein in special interests in Harrisburg should get the hearing they deserve.

Even better, they should be enacted sooner rather than later.

Billed as a “Citizens First” ethics reform package, the two aspects of it that generated headlines are proposals to ban lawmakers from receiving gifts (one assumes family and friends are excepted), and to hold the paychecks of legislators until budget deals are reached. Other proposals include limits on campaign contributions and curbs on what political action committees can do, and a requirement that receipts be produced when a public officials asks to be reimbursed for expenses.

All sensible. All overdue. And a continuation of efforts that started with Wolf banning gifts for employees of the executive branch at the start of his term.

Unveiling it at the Allegheny County Courthouse in Pittsburgh, Wolf said, “This proposal will hold all public officials accountable to their constituents and make sure our citizens know exactly who’s in charge in Harrisburg.”

Consider that the Keystone State is a hardy perennial on lists of the most corrupt states, alongside such mainstays as Louisiana, New Jersey and Illinois. The list of public officials who have been charged with crimes in recent years encompasses former attorney general Kathleen Kane, former treasurer Rob McCord, and Bill DeWeese, the long-serving state representative from Greene County who was speaker of the House in the 1990s. Then there have been cases that have involved public officials with lower profiles, such as the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s “pay-to-play” scandal. The causes of public corruption are many and varied, but instituting regulations that limit the amount of money than can flow into campaigns would be a good place to start if you want to tame misconduct.

And while it would seem like common sense that elected officials would be prohibited from receiving gifts, Pennsylvania is one of only 10 states that does not have a law limiting gifts. This has resulted in legislators being wined and dined by lobbyists, as well as legislators traveling to far-off locales on the dime of special interests. To cite one example, state Sen. Andy Dinniman, a Democrat from Chester County, traveled to Taiwan in 2014 to discuss trade and educational exchanges with officials there. Dinniman also saw some tourist sites. The whole sojourn was paid for by the Taiwanese government. While there’s nothing inherently improper about Dinniman exploring areas of mutual interest between Pennsylvania and Taiwan, his trip should have been paid for by the commonwealth rather than his hosts.

We probably shouldn’t wait in breathless anticipation for anything like Wolf’s proposals to become law. First, similar plans have been put forth before, including a gift ban presented by state Rep. Rick Saccone, the Elizabeth Republican and 18th District congressional candidate, and they have gone nowhere. It’s also profoundly unlikely that the Republican-controlled Legislature will want to give the Democratic governor any kind of a win before he faces the voters again.

Quixotic or not, though, Pennsylvania desperately needs reforms like the ones Wolf is advocating.