Gov. Ed Rendell vowed Wednesday to push for reforms of weak campaign laws he abused to raise record amounts of money in 2002 and 2006.

HARRISBURG — Gov. Ed Rendell vowed Wednesday to be a low-key but resolute advocate for government reform during his last year in office, saying special interests hold too much sway in Harrisburg.

Rendell renewed his pitch for imposing the first limits on state campaign contributions, ending the election of appellate judges and giving citizens control over the redrawing of legislative districts every 10 years.

The governor acknowledged the Legislature ultimately decides which, if any, proposals become law and said he would limit his personal involvement in an effort to avoid polarizing the debate.

"I don't want to make this about me," the Democrat told reporters after an unrelated news conference. "If I do something it will be putting other respected Pennsylvanians at the helm of these reform measures" by appointing citizen panels to make the case for change.

The governor blamed business lobbyists for prolonging negotiations over this year's budget by blocking attempts to raise revenue by abolishing certain tax exemptions.

"'We've done great things legislatively (but) get virtually no credit for it because we have a process that's broken," he said. "Special interests still dominate the scene here in Harrisburg."

Rendell is an unlikely poster child for campaign-finance reform. As a candidate for governor, he capitalized on Pennsylvania's weak law and set records as he raised tens of millions of dollars in each of his campaigns in 2002 and 2006.

While he has touted reform proposals since at least his second inaugural address in 2007, Rendell has placed much more emphasis on policy and spending initiatives. Few major reforms have been enacted.

"I did try to pursue them, and they fell on deaf ears," he said Wednesday,

The governor said he hopes "citizen ire" over the 101-day budget stalemate would boost reform efforts.

Rendell's campaign-finance plan would limit contributions to candidates for statewide office by individuals or political committees to $5,000 and set limits on total contributions during any two-year election cycle. Current law prevents corporations from giving to campaigns but imposes no monetary limits.

The governor said lobbyists should be barred from contributing money to any elected official or candidate for public office.

He supports a constitutional amendment to replace the election of appellate judges with a system in which a citizen panel recommends candidates based on merit and judges are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate. He also proposes allowing voters in each county to decide whether they want to keep electing county judges.

Rendell also favors amending the Constitution to put a panel of appointed citizens in charge of the legislative reapportionment that occurs every 10 years following the federal census.