And there is reason to believe Street may not be eager to help a potential rival. Kenney, a prodigious fund-raiser himself, has been rumored to be considering a run against Street in 2003. He is also aligned with the political camp of State Sen. Vincent Fumo, who controls a network of political-action committees and has had a chilly relationship with the mayor. George Burrell, the mayor's secretary for external affairs, said the Street administration would support municipal reform if there were concurrent changes at the state level. There are no state limits on the size of political contributions.
Soft money is large, unlimited, unregulated donations to political parties and PACs.
But whether this would happen any time soon remains to be seen. Despite more than a decade of trying, state legislators have failed to pass campaign-finance legislation. For his part, Kenney said the Street administration should stop waiting for the perfect legislation. Other cities have enacted measures that reach even further than the bill Council is considering. A Philadelphia bill that would have set up a public financing system was killed last year in committee.