Letter to the Editor - "The Gift Ban" (Philadelphia Inquirer)

by Murielle McCarthy, MarchOnHarrisburg Volunteer
Published in the Philadelphia Inquirer on May 12, 2021

Gifts are unethical and drown out our voices. We can be the 43rd state to end this form of legalized bribery and unequal influence by demanding that Corman get the Gift Ban passed. - Murielle McCarthy

I read with interest “One ritzy fund-raiser shows how tough selling lobbying reform in Pa. will be” (May 4). The $30,000 event that Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman attended is a prime example of our broken state government. It is legal for our state legislators to accept gifts. But this practice can end now with Corman’s endorsement of the Gift Ban, SB 401.

MarchOnHarrisburg and other advocates have been working for decades to persuade our state legislature to eliminate gifts of cash, wining and dining, and golf trips like Corman’s. Pennsylvanians pay for the salaries, health care, and pensions of our legislators. Yet legislators feel entitled to receive gifts from monied interests.

Gifts are unethical and drown out our voices. We can be the 43rd state to end this form of legalized bribery and unequal influence by demanding that Corman get the Gift Ban passed.

Murielle McCarthy, Philadelphia