Matt Hainer, of Detroit Lakes, MN, left, plays the fife as a group called “MarchOnHarrisburg” walks along Main Street in Salunga, East Hempfield Township on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. The group is marching to Harrisburg from Lancaster in an effort to sway public policy. The group, which left Grandview Church in Manheim Township, will walk to Harrisburg through Sunday, and visit the Capitol Monday.
Blaine Shahan / LNP | LancasterOnline
Blaine Shahan / LNP | LancasterOnline
Matt Hainer, of Detroit Lakes, MN, left, plays the fife as a group called “MarchOnHarrisburg” walks along Main Street in Salunga, East Hempfield Township on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. The group is marching to Harrisburg from Lancaster in an effort to sway public policy. The group, which left Grandview Church in Manheim Township, will walk to Harrisburg through Sunday, and visit the Capitol Monday.
After a three-day, 35-mile walk from Lancaster to Harrisburg, protesters demanding changes to Pennsylvania’s campaign finance laws didn’t return to their cars, or lay down for a long nap.
Instead, they ended their walk with a rally at the Capitol against “dark money” — a term used to describe political contributions made without disclosing the donors.
“We have blisters on our feet. We have sunburn on the back of our necks. We march from Lancaster to Harrisburg to deliver a message that we believe in democracy,” said Michael Pollack, one of the marchers and founder of the campaign reform group March On Harrisburg.
Pennsylvania has some of the loosest campaign finance laws in the country. Politicians can accept unlimited donations to their campaigns, and few rules restrict how politicians can spend that money.
Two bills targeting dark money passed the state House earlier this year, and this weekend’s march was intended to pressure state Senate Republicans to do the same.
Pollack and a dozen Pennsylvanians, including five from Lancaster County, began their multi-day march Friday morning in Manheim Township. They spent their nights in churches along the route, and by Monday afternoon they were joined by another dozen or so supporters
After an hour-long rally inside the Capitol rotunda on Monday, several members of the group attended a meeting with representatives for Senate President Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland, to discuss their current priority: an anti-dark money bill authored by nonprofit Free Speech for People that has yet to move in the Republican-majority state Senate.
“This march is about visibility, to make her face what she’s choosing to ignore,” said Lancaster resident Andrea Pauliuc, 24, who joined March On Harrisburg in 2022 after graduating from the University of Pittsburgh.
The bill would address an alleged loophole in the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. FEC ruling that allows “foreign-influenced corporations” to play their hand in Pennsylvania politics.
Pollack said the group expects to meet with Ward about the legislation as soon as Thursday. A Ward spokesperson said the chamber had not been in session to discuss the House-passed campaign finance bills, and the proposals were only officially accepted by the Senate State Government Committee on Monday.
Erica Clayton Wright, Ward’s spokesperson, said the March on Harrisburg activists hadn’t taken the proper avenues to request an official meeting, but said Ward is open to continuing the conversation on campaign finance and election reform once the group addresses legal questions about the bill.
None of the three state senators from Lancaster County, all Republicans, sit on the State Government Committee, where the House bills currently await action. Two of the lawmakers, Sens. Ryan Aument and Chris Gebhard, did not respond to a request for comment; Sen. Scott Martin declined to comment unless the bills are considered in a committee that gives him a vote.
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