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Shirley Gorski
State College
Election season is coming soon. For Pennsylvania especially, the season means endless political TV ads telling us who to vote for or against. In 2024, Pennsylvania was the first state in history to surpass $1 billion in political ads spending in one year.
A major problem with these ads is that no one knows where the money that pays for them comes from. It's certainly not everyday Pennsylvanians donating millions to run the ads. But there's a measure Pennsylvania can take to get the worst of this secret spending money out of our elections.
Earlier this summer, the Pennsylvania State House passed a bill to do just that. HB497, a bill that would ban foreign-influenced corporations from spending in our elections, received bipartisan support in the House and is now in the PA Senate.
It's waiting for our State Senators to listen to Pennsylvanians and get foreign money interests out of our elections.
As law stands under the Citizens United ruling, there's a loophole that allows foreigners to secretly spend in our elections. HB497 doesn't challenge the Supreme Court's decision--it closes the problematic loophole using legal state action.
Pennsylvanians should be listening to the opinions of everyday Americans and small businesses in our state--not giant multinational corporations with foreign investors. If passed through the Senate, this bill would help empower small business owners in our elections. Until HB497 is passed, foreign-influenced corporations will continue to outspend all Pennsylvanians and advocate for candidates that serve their profit--not the well-being of Pennsylvanians. Please ask our own Sen. Dush, who chairs the Senate State Government Committee where this bill currently sits, to take it up and pass it!