For the past year and a half, lawmakers have batted around ambitious proposals to rein in Pennsylvania’s largely unfettered campaign financing system.

Many people believe there is something fundamentally unfair about a system in which donors have to write checks of five figures or more if they want to be noticed.

Yet the appetite for tangible reform appears meager, and the prospects are not encouraging for those seeking to reform the system…

A much more incremental approach passed out of the House State Government Committee on Tuesday. It would require all legislative candidates to file a campaign finance report six weeks before a primary or general election, along with the second-Friday-before report that is now mandated.