Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-43rd, recently proposed a bill that would establish campaign donation limits for the first time in the state and impose more accountability for spending by elected officials and others running for office.

Costa's bill comes after state lawmakers abandoned their push for less oversight after a yearlong investigation by the The Caucus and Spotlight PA found that lawmakers shielded millions of dollars in campaign spending from public scrutiny, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

From 2016 through 2018, state House and Senate candidates spent nearly $3.5 million that cannot be fully traced based on the information they publicly disclosed, according to thousands of pages of records obtained by The Caucus and Spotlight PA.

Questionable charges included foreign trips, sports tickets, limos, lavish dinners, fine wines and liquor, country club memberships and even a DNA test kit.

Local representatives said their filings are detailed and their expenses are within the law.One item on state Rep. Jeff Pyle's campaign finance report is $200 for a barbecue for ACMH Hospital's oncology unit.That expense is within the law because it was meant to garner votes. Other common items are campaign shirts and buttons.“You're supposed to be increasing election chances,” said Pyle, R-60th, of campaign accounts and expenditures.

Under Pennsylvania election law, campaign accounts must be used to influence the outcome of an election. State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-12th called the law a broad definition.Metcalfe said he was surprised by the expenditures highlighted in the investigation.Some lawmakers found a loophole when filing credit card expenses, he said.Metcalfe denotes in detail what his credit card charges went toward, such as coffee, a dinner meeting or office supplies.Although transparency is in place for campaign finances, Metcalfe said he would be in favor of looking at the current language and finding ways to improve the law.The expenses in question were not tax dollars, but monies given to a candidate in support of their election, Metcalfe said.Candidates should tell their supporters what they are raising money for and how it is spent, he said.The investigation identified “dubious” expenses by some of the state's senators, Pyle said.Detailed expenses should be filed, he said.“I don't know why people don't,” Pyle said. “I try to be detailed.”Two-thirds of his contributions are given to various organizations, including fire halls, Little Leagues and high school booster groups, he said.Golf balls or towels are items people will not see on his expense reports, he said.However, people can find items for his fully automatic machine-gun shoot event, Pyle said.“I'm not ashamed,” he said. “I know I'm within the law.”Mailings were the largest expense for state Rep. Marci Mustello, R-11th. Those mailers had information that introduced her to the community, she said.Another expense was gasoline for traveling door-to-door to neighborhoods in her district and advertisements in newspapers and radio stations, she said.“I did not spend frivolously on my campaign,” Mustello said. “I spent it on getting my message out to the voters.”