Hawaii boldly chose to take corporate money out of its elections this year. Pennsylvania can do it too.
I’m pledging to support it.
THE PROBLEM
Too much money in politics.
The money that decides elections almost never arrives with a name on it. It moves from one entity to the next, and by the time you see it, it’s attributed to an unfamiliar group with an ambiguous name, and it takes a lot of work to tell whose money it was or why they spent it.
None of this is accidental. People don’t have time to trace money or motivations, and big money donors don’t mind the anonymity one bit.
We can put people first again. I’ve sat across from families who just lost services because a new budget took them away. The policy decisions that wreck a family's year are almost never made in a room that family was invited into. They are made in rooms where the people who paid for the campaign have a chair.
Hawaii passed a law like this already. A similar bill has been drafted here in Pennsylvania. I want to pass that bill, stand with Hawaii, and remind everyone that political power belongs only to actual people.
THE PROPOSAL
Corporate powers are the key
States charter and govern corporations. They literally decide what corporations are empowered to do.
This is not a new idea. Amidst a tidal wave of chaos filling your news feed, you’ve likely not heard of House Bill 2728. Some very influential organizations are hoping you don’t ever hear about it.
House Bill 2728 was introduced by State Representative Joe Webster on August 5, 2026 and referred to the House State Government Committee, where it sits today. It changes Title 15, Pennsylvania's corporations code instead of changing election law.
It makes explicit that the powers Pennsylvania grants to corporations, nonprofit corporations, and limited liability companies do not include the power to use money or anything else of value in order to influence elections. Twenty-five members have signed on.
I want to be sure our bill applies to corporations chartered in other states, but make no mistake: HB 2728 takes us in the right direction. Many of our other headaches stem from the problem of too much money in politics. This would solve so much, so quickly.
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Title 15, Corporations and Unincorporated Associations. You might expect that it would change the election code, but it does not.
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Business corporations, nonprofit corporations, and limited liability companies chartered under Pennsylvania law.
If elected, I will be asking for clear language and ongoing public communication that this bill will apply to all “foreign” (out of state) corporations like Hawaii’s law does.
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It repeals the existing grants of general corporate powers and regrants them, excluding any power to directly or indirectly engage in election spending, or to provide anything of value.
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Referred to the House State Government Committee on August 5, 2026.
It has not had a vote.
Powers and privileges, not rights.
THE MECHANISM
The Supreme Court's campaign finance decisions protect the exercise of rights. Rights belong to people. They exist before government, and government does not hand them out.
A corporation is different. It exercises powers, and it holds only the powers its chartering state confers. That has been settled American law since 1819.
The state that granted a power can decline to grant it. This does not overturn Citizens United. No state legislature can do that. It asks a question Citizens United never answered.
Pennsylvania is unusually well positioned for this, and not by accident. Article X of the Pennsylvania Constitution is titled Private Corporations. Section 3 provides that all charters of private corporations, and all law prescribing the powers of private corporations, may be revoked, amended or repealed. It is written into our constitution.
THE PRECEDENT
Hawaii went first
On May 14, 2026, Hawaii became the first state in the country to enact this approach. It passed their Senate 24 to 0 and their House 50 to 1, in truly bipartisan fashion.
Rebecca and her team have studied the bill sitting in the PA House, and been in contact with the legislators in Hawaii who wrote the law and moved it through. It will solve real problems, and voters love it.
Every state that adopts this approach will strengthen the coalition working to restore the voice of the citizen. One state acting alone is easy to dismiss. An outlier. Together we can accomplish more.
Legislators in fourteen other states introduced similar bills this year. Montana voters decide their own version, Initiative 194, in November. Pennsylvania's bill is already written and filed. It just needs to move out of committee and get a chance to pass.
Who this is good for?
Working people. Management outspends labor in American politics by a wide margin. Pulling everyone back to the same line moves working people forward, not backward.
The purpose of a bill like this is to prevent our system from being bought by people who make political donations in order to get a return on their investment. This could come in the form of the loosening of regulations, tax cuts, or any number of other things that justify a big-money investment to influence our political system.
This district. We have already seen people from outside the district trying to influence our elections. They want sympathetic judges elected to the Supreme Court, or want us to vote out the incumbent so their industry is finally legalized in Pennsylvania, so we get inundated with postcards, billboards, paid social media posts and more. They’re trying to get you to support their interests, whether you can see the big picture behind their plans or not.
BENEFITS
What it does not do:
It does not restrict any individual. Every person keeps every right they have today to give, to spend, to volunteer, and to speak.
It does not eliminate PACs.
It does not cap contributions. That is a separate fight.
It does not overturn Citizens United. No state legislature can.
POPULAR OPINION
This is not a contentious question.
72% of Americans said they would support this reform in their own state.
81% of Democrats. 64% of Republicans. 60% of independents.
12% opposed.
There is no real constituency on the other side of this. There is only money.
Issue One / YouGov, 2025, measured after respondents heard arguments from both sides.
NEXT STEP: YOUR INPUT
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