Aug 15, 2022 2 min read

You probably didn’t treat your local state lawmaker to a lavish holiday dinner in December, beginning with appetizers of seared crab cakes, grilled lamb and bacon-wrapped scallops. You can’t afford it and, besides, you already pay state lawmakers to conduct the public’s business.

Someone in Southwestern Pennsylvania went that extra mile, at an invitation-only, black-tie event to ensure that people who wanted access to Republican lawmakers had it. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette obtained the invitation and reported Aug. 7 on the soiree of the “Southwest Society.”

But because of the same laws that allow such influence-buying events to occur in the first place, there is no way to know who paid the bill for the lavish outing.

Pennsylvania has some of the nation’s weakest campaign finance laws. But this event did not even rise to the level of campaign disclosure standards because, as its sponsors told the Post-Gazette, it was not a political fundraising event. That meant it fell under the purview of Pennsylvania’s worst-in-the-nation lobbying disclosure and ethics rules.

A GOP political consultant said all of the money went to the restaurant rather than to any lawmakers, so it doesn’t fall under even the inadequate disclosure rules. But the money came from narrow interests seeking influence. It’s access without accountability.

The invitation advised narrow interests that mingling with the lawmakers would cost a minimum of $1,000 as a “friend” of the society, up to the $10,000 “visionary” level.

The law requires lawmakers to report the receipt of “gifts” worth more than $250, and lodging and travel of $650 or more. But even that low bar is riddled with loopholes. Lobbyists who represent multiple clients with similar interests, for example, can just combine their “gifts” of less than $250 so lawmakers don’t have to report the individual “gifts.”

Rules for lobbyists themselves to report the spending are even weaker. According to the state Department of State, lobbyists spent $1.65 million on legislative meals, gifts, travel and lodging in 2021, but disclosed only details covering $17,600.

The Legislature needs to eliminate thinly disguised bribery by enacting a ban on all “gifts,” which further private interests rather than the public interest.