March on Harrisburg stages Bellefonte rally to urge Rep. Benninghoff to approve the gift ban
Philadelphia rabbi and activist Michael Pollack enjoys convincing politicians to outlaw corruption, long marches and sitting in inconvenient places. He’s been led out of the state Capitol in handcuffs for trespassing, all because he doesn’t believe money should be used to influence decisions.
Earlier this week, Pollack and three fellow members of March on Harrisburg were escorted out of the state Capitol building by police after entering the office of House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, R-Bellefonte.
And on Thursday, wearing money costumes and carrying signs, the group gathered again — this time, outside Benninghoff’s Bellefonte office, repeating calls for a House vote on a bill — House Bill 1945 — that would ban gifts to lawmakers and other public officials.
“The gift ban is a wildly popular bill,” Pollack said. “I’ve never met anybody outside of the state Capitol that was pro-bribery or pro-corruption — literally zero people — and we want him to enact the will of the people so that the legislature can actually see and respond to the suffering of Pennsylvanians.”
March on Harrisburg, a nonpartisan movement, was created in 2016 from a D.C. jail cell after thousands of protesters were arrested at a protest against corruption and bribery in government. Since then, Pollack and MoH members have marched 265 miles across Pennsylvania, organized 14 nonviolent direct actions and lobbied all of the state legislators — asking them to vote on a bill that would prevent lobbyists and other officials from giving elected officials gifts in attempt to sway their decisions.
“We believe that as long as corruption is legal, as long as bribery is legal in Pennsylvania, that our legislature — our political system — is incapable of dealing with the issues that affect suffering Pennsylvanians,” Pollack said.
Under the current law, lobbyists are legally allowed to buy legislators dinner, pay for travel and give them other items while communicating on policy and legislation. Gifts do not need to be reported as long as they are less than $250. In 2019, more than $83,000 in free trips were reported as gifts to elected officials, along with free meals and alcohol, according to public state ethics forms.
“These people have outsize access, and our voices and the voices of the people we love and people we know are suffering are not heard,” Elizabeth Hoffman Reed said. “That’s wrong in a representative government.”
Former House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, met with MoH last year and backed the gift ban. The bill then advanced out of committee in November 2019.
But since then, the legislation has gone untouched in the GOP-controlled House led by House Speaker Bryan Cutler and Benninghoff.
Press Secretary and House Republican Caucus spokesman Jason Gottesman said the bill is still under discussion and that it must undergo the legislative process.
“Rep. Benninghoff, as an individual leader, is certainly in favor of open and transparent government; however, House Bill 1949 is still part of the legislative process,” he said Thursday. “It needs to be discussed by our entire caucus.”
But until action is taken on the proposed legislation, Pollack said Pennsylvanians will continue to suffer.
“As long as money talks, as long as it’s legal to bribe, the people will not be heard,” Pollack said. “As long as money is speech, the people don’t have the right to speak up.”
