Mayoral candidate John Street didn't have time to attend a state House hearing on campaign finance reform.

But if his ears felt an occasional tingle yesterday, it may have reflected the criticism directed Street's way by several campaign reform advocates, stunned by some of Street's recent comments on political fund-raising.

"The people who support me in the general election have a greater chance of getting business from my administration than the people who support Sam Katz," Street was quoted saying in Tuesday's Inquirer.

"I think that's the way it works," Street said, "[and] anybody who doesn't acknowledge that's the way it works is either a liar or thinks you're really stupid."

Common Cause of Pennsylvania cited Street's remarks as evidence of the need for reform.

"The so-called Pay-to-Play mentality, that is far too prevalent in Pennsylvania politics, is intimately intertwined with our system for financing political campaigns," said Robert Wingert, a Philadelphian in the clothing design business, testifying for Common Cause.

A Democratic state representative from Delaware County, Greg Vitali, called Street's remark "a blunt but pretty appalling admission."

Street's campaign staff said the candidate was booked too heavily to make time for the House State Government Committee hearing, a block from Street's campaign headquarters at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

But spokesman Ken Snyder defended Street's remarks.

"John Street was being honest about a system that stinks," Snyder said. "Street wishes, we all wish that the campaign finance rules were different, but let's not pretend they are."

Republican Sam Katz did testify, calling for tighter enforcement of the campaign finance laws already on the books, and contribution limits to curtail what any individual could give to a campaign.

Katz also suggested a new disclosure requirement - forcing campaign contributors to check a small box indicating if they've gotten contracts or other business from the office they're contributing to.

The Republican - a past candidate for mayor in 1991 and governor in 1994 - said the continued escalation of fund-raising has "changed the whole tenor of political campaigns," draining time from the candidates, dominating campaign news coverage and undermining public confidence in the political system.

Katz suggested that if Street "had less money to spend on 30-second campaign ads, he would be more willing to engage in debates" and other joint appearances, giving voters more chances to evaluate the mayoral candidates face-to-face.

Katz also complained about lax enforcement of existing campaign finance laws, noting that Street's disclosure reports have frequently failed to identify the occupations or businesses of major donors.

State law requires candidates to list the addresses, occupations and employers of any donors giving more than $250.

But the city and state election authorities to whom reports are submitted have never had the clout to penalize candidates who are haphazard in compliance.

While Katz's public reports on contributors have been near-perfect, Street's have been marred by frequent mistakes and omissions.

Nevertheless, Snyder dismissed Katz's criticism as "mud-throwing" and suggested reporters look into the operations of a political action committee run by Katz's former consulting firm, Public Financial Management. He said Katz was actively involved in the PAC while it donated money to candidates all over the country, "to grease the skids for their business."

Katz's campaign manager, Bob Barnett, confirmed that PFM had an active PAC while Katz was at the firm. "I'm sure it complied with all the applicable laws," Barnett said.