Philadelphia might start imposing campaign-spending limits. This region is late catching on to a trend. Many of the nation's largest cities, and more than 100 other towns, already have some form of campaign-finance limits, with mixed results. Such laws are intended to reduce the influence of donations from people who are seeking city contracts or development approvals.
Some cities simply cap the size of contributions.
Some give public funds to candidates who agree to curb spending. One city in Colorado bans its council members from voting on any issue that involves a major contributor. Though the legal solutions have taken many forms, no one has found a perfect answer. The laws, much as on the federal level, are constantly being revised to account for new ways that money creeps into elections. They open up the spigots for money given to semiprivate efforts that don't come under the umbrella of the campaign-finance law.