In the wake of Republican Attorney General Tom Corbett's string of grand jury charges of election abuses, Democrats are lining up to portray themselves as champions of reform in Harrisburg.

Tom Knox, a wealthy Philadelphia businessman running for the Democratic nomination for governor, has proposed a series of fundraising and election reform measures. Yesterday, in the first policy statement of his campaign to carry the Democratic standard, Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato offered his own ambitious package of reform proposals.

Even Gov. Rendell got into the act. In Harrisburg yesterday, he listed a series of election and fundraising changes that he said would be among the chief priorities of his final two years in office.

Mr. Knox and Mr. Onorato may hope to raise the tone in the capital, but that spirit of uplift did not extend to the campaign trail, as their rival proposals sparked an exchange of jibes from their campaign staffs over their respective reform credentials.

In an e-mail to supporters and a subsequent conference call with reporters, Mr. Knox said last week that he would counter what he characterized as the "pay-to-play" culture of Harrisburg with a contribution cap of $500 for anyone doing business with the state. He also said that anyone running for statewide office should resign any local or state office -- a restriction that would affect every current gubernatorial contender except for Mr. Knox and U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach, one of Mr. Corbett's rivals for the GOP nomination.

Yesterday, in a speech to the Rotary Club in Downtown Pittsburgh, Mr. Onorato outlined an extensive blueprint for changes in election, lobbying and redistricting rules.

Mr. Onorato's wide-ranging proposals, some of which would require changes in the state constitution, included:

• Campaign finance limits based on the ceilings in federal law.

• Term limits of 12 years in either chamber of the Legislature -- meaning that it would be conceivable for one lawmaker to serve 12 years in the House and another 12 years in the Senate. There currently are no limits.

• An unspecified reduction of the size of the Legislature that would produce cost cuts of at least 20 percent.

• Establishment of a commission to insulate the congressional and legislative redistricting process from politics.

Mr. Onorato also said that he would push for a change in "the culture of Harrisburg," through new rules governing lawmakers and lobbyists. He would ask legislators to ax cherished perks such as per diem expense payments and all gifts from lobbyists. He would also eliminate WAMs, or walking around money, the special earmarks distributed by individual legislators.

Some of these proposals, notably the shrinking of the Legislature and the elimination of WAMs, have circulated in Harrisburg in the past only to die of neglect.

Mr. Onorato argued, however, that he faced similar skepticism when he took over as executive toward his since-enacted plan to eliminate most of the county's row offices.

"If you have the support of the public behind you, you can get anything done," he said.

But the campaign of his party rival, Mr. Knox, was quick to question Mr. Onorato's reform credentials.

"Records matter," said Josh Morrow, the Knox campaign manager. "Dan Onorato has had many years to end pay-to-play in Allegheny County. But instead he has taken hundreds of thousands in campaign cash and rewarded these same donors with millions of dollars in county business. I believe Pennsylvanians will view his plan with a healthy dose of skepticism."

Mr. Morrow said that Mr. Onorato, while county controller in 2001, was among several members of the county Retirement Board, who received campaign contributions from some of the same firms awarded contracts to manage the county's pension assets.

In response, Dan Fee, Mr. Onorato's spokesman, said, "We are fully prepared to have a debate about reform with a candidate who was fined for campaign finance violations just two months ago. Dan has a record of reform and Tom Knox has a record of disobeying the law."

He referred to a $5,500 fine levied by Philadelphia elections officials over a deceptive ad aired by Mr. Knox's unsuccessful campaign for the Democratic nomination for mayor two years ago. The ad, attacking the eventual winner, Michael Nutter, did not disclose that it was actually paid for by the businessman's campaign.

Speaking to reporters last week, Mr. Knox said he hadn't known about the ad before it was aired and called it a mistake by his campaign.

In Harrisburg, Mr. Rendell also discussed state government reform yesterday, saying that in early 2010 he plans a push for three changes: limiting how much individuals and political action committees can donate to politicians; creating a new panel to redraw state House and Senate district lines after the 2010 census; and using "merit selection" of state appellate judges instead of direct election by voters.

The other candidates for governor are Republican state Rep. Jim Rohrer, and Democrats Joe Hoeffel, a Montgomery County commissioner; Auditor General Jack Wagner; and Chris Doherty, the mayor of Scranton.

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