October 5, 2015 •
Pittsburgh Councilman Introduces Legislation to Overhaul Campaign Finance, Ethics Laws
Councilman Dan Gilman introduced a bill to rewrite the city’s campaign finance ordinance. The bill would bring the city’s contribution limits in line with the federal limits, prohibit the transfer of funds from one PAC to another above the stated limit, and make contribution stacking, where a candidate accepts a contribution for a special election and primary election during the same election cycle, illegal.
The bill also eliminates the “millionaire” exception in current law, whereby contribution limits do not apply if a candidate spends more than $50,000 per election cycle on his or her own campaign.
Gilman is also proposing a newly formed ethics board to replace the current one and a new website to compile information on the activities of government entities.
Photo of the Pittsburgh City-County Building by Leepaxton at Wikimedia Commons.
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