State Senator Dan Laughlin
Office of State Senator Dan Laughlin
As voters cast their ballots in the primary election on Tuesday, state Sen. Dan Laughlin introduced a bill to open future primaries to all unaffiliated voters.
Laughlin, a Republican from Erie County, held a press conference Tuesday morning in his district to announce the bill, which would allow for independent voters to cast a ballot in one party’s primary. He joins state Rep. Chris Quinn, a Republican from Delaware County, who introduced House Bill 1369 earlier this month, in advocating on behalf of independent voters.
“There is a significant number of eligible voters who do not wish to align with any particular party. I used to be a registered independent as well,” Laughlin said at the press conference. “Primary elections are critical to the electoral process. We have [about] 800,000 Pennsylvanians that are excluded from the primary process, and as someone who wants to encourage more people to vote, th
Angela Couloumbis of Spotlight PA and Brad Bumsted and Sam Janesch of The Caucus
HARRISBURG For the first time, the Pennsylvania legislature’s top leaders are expected to throw their weight behind reining in the influence of lobbyists who also moonlight as political consultants, blurring the worlds of politics and policy in the Capitol.
In the coming weeks, House Speaker Bryan Cutler and Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman plan to unveil a proposed ban on the practice as part of a lobbying reform package. The hope, the Republicans have said, is to restore public faith in government.
Yet even as the final details of the plan are being penned, Corman is jetting off to a ritzy fundraiser organized by one in a trio of companies that has cornered the market on the business practice Corman’s lobbying reform legislation aims to stop. The Harrisburg-based firms, called The Mavericks, fundraise for elected officials, run their political campaigns, then lobby them once they are
Spotlight PA and The Caucus
Editor’s note: Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media.
HARRISBURG For the first time, the Pennsylvania legislature’s top leaders are expected to throw their weight behind reining in the influence of lobbyists who also moonlight as political consultants, blurring the worlds of politics and policy in the Capitol.
In the coming weeks, House Speaker Bryan Cutler and Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman plan to unveil a proposed ban on the practice as part of a lobbying reform package. The hope, the Republicans have said, is to restore public faith in government.
Ritzy Fundraiser Shows How Tough Selling Lobbying Reform In PA Will Be levittownnow.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from levittownnow.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — For the first time, the Pennsylvania legislature’s top leaders are expected to throw their weight behind reining in the