Campaign finance, lobbying reform still receiving little attention in Pa. legislature – By Angela Couloumbis (Spotlight Pa) / Mar 31 2023
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HARRISBURG — As lawmakers gathered in Harrisburg this week for another round of budget hearings, both legislative chambers got the chance to question top officials from Pennsylvania’s Department of State.
The department is best known for its oversight of elections. But it also plays a key part in an area long neglected by the legislature: the role of money and lobbying in politics and policy-making.
Both are large, time-consuming undertakings for the department, which has a proposed budget of $35.2 million. Annual budget hearings have long been a forum for lawmakers to put administration officials on the spot about what they believe are the most pressing and important issues of the day.
