This week, the March On Harrisburg marched from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Harrisburg demanding that politicians make it illegal for lobbyists to give gifts to politicians. Pennsylvania currently has no laws restricting lobbyists giving gifts to politicians, and for that fact, the commonwealth pretty much has no laws limiting campaign contributions. Those running for running for House, Senate, Governor and the three row offices can recieve as much money as the donor is willing go them as long as it is reported. The bill they were pushing for was House Bill 39, which would ban gift giving, and by the end of the legislative week, there was a total of 28 arrests.
Five of the twenty eight arrests happened inside House State Government Chairman Daryl Metcalfe’s office as demonstrators demanded a vote on HB 39 (video below courtesy of yours truly). The remaining arrests happened outside of Representative Metcalfe’s office on Monday morning and outside of the House State Government Committee hearing Monday afternoon as activists were chanting so loudly Representative Metcalfe could not conduct the hearing.