Did PA Taxpayers Shell out Millions to State Employees in Bonus Money For Working on Political Campaigns?

Tom Corbett, The Pennsylvania Attorney General is conducting an investigation into the alleged misuse of public funds by our state legislators. Information leaked to the Philadelphia Inquirer indicates at least 14 staff personnel have been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury investigating the possible use of public funds as rewards for political campaigning by state employees.

The numbers are staggering. Last year alone $1.9 million was awarded in year-end cash bonuses to staffers. However the investigation is focused on whether legislative employees in all four caucuses improperly received taxpayer funded bonuses totaling nearly $4 million in 2005 and 2006 alone!

One individual subpoenaed to testify stated prosecutors were mainly interested in the bonuses that staffer received and the leaves of absence taken to perform campaign work. Another individual received a bonus equal to 40% of her annual salary.

Shamefully Pennsylvania has some of the most lax laws governing disclosure of the use of public funds by our state legislature and the practice of awarding bonuses for campaign work has long been a closely held secret of the good old boys club in Harrisburg.

What makes matters worse is that Attorney General Corbett, a Republican, has summoned only Democratic staffers to testify prompting state Democrats to liken Corbett’s practices to that of US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ partisan pseudo-investigations. Leave it to the politicians to ignore the fact that wrong is wrong regardless of which side of the aisle you are seated.

It’s absolutely unconscionable that even after the public furor over the midnight pay raises, our elected officials continue to dole out our tax dollars as bonuses for work that benefits only the legislator. These bonuses are being paid to state employees many of which already hold plum jobs with outrageous benefit packages. Millions of our dollars each and every year are being paid out for personal campaign work while at the same time our state legislators want to place tolls on our roads because THEY have neglected our very infrastructure while lining the pockets of the people who help them get elected.

It’s time for a complete change to the disclosure laws in Pennsylvania to make our elected officials more accountable. Those changes should also require total re-payment, heavy fines, and mandatory jail time for any elected official or state employee found guilty of the misuse of public funds.

-Editor