2006 Pennsylvania General Assembly bonus controversy

In 2007, Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett began investigating $3.8 million in bonuses paid to legislative staffers in the Pennsylvania General Assembly. While the bonuses themselves are not illegal under state law, the Attorney General is investigating the possibility that the bonuses were handed out for campaign work. State law forbids state employees from performing campaign work while on the job and forbids payment for campaign work out of taxpayer funds. [http://www.philly.com/inquirer/politics/pa/20071218_DeWeese__7_aides_ousted_over_e-mail.html DeWeese: 7 aides ousted over e-mail | Philadelphia Inquirer | 12/18/2007 ] ] [ [http://www.postgazette.com/pg/07350/842079-85.stm Dennis B. Roddy and Tracie Mauriello, "E-mails show how Dems tied staffers' bonuses to campaign work", Pittsburgh Post Gazette, 12/16/07] ]

Pennsylvania media refer to this scandal as "bonusgate." [ [http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/mostread/s_545058.html What rises to 'criminal level' in Bonusgate? - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ] ]

Attorney General's investigation

Bonuses to staffers were awarded by the four legislative caucuses in the Pennsylvania General Assembly with House Democrats handing out $2.3 million, House Republicans - $919,000, Senate Democrats - $41,000 and Senate Republicans $366,000. [ [http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/state/s_543673.html Brad Bumstead, "GOP bonuses legit, Smith says", Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 12/20/07] ]

The investigation's early focus on the House Democratic caucus and Attorney General Corbett's 2010 gubernatorial aspirations have led to charges from that the investigation may be politically motivated. [ [http://www.philly.com/inquirer/breaking/news_breaking/20071013_More_subpoenas__more_details_in_Pa__bonus_probe.html Mario F. Cattabiani and Angela Couloumbis, More subpoenas, more details in Pa. bonus probe, Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/14/07] ]

Democratic state representative Mark B. Cohen suggested an "apparent reluctance of Attorney General Tom Corbett to go after Republicans giving and getting bonuses after doing campaign work with the same zeal as Democrats..." [cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=How do we insure prosecutorial fairness| date= | publisher= | url =http://www.phillyblog.com/philly/general-discussion/43032-concept-prosecutorial-fairness-valid-one-how-do-we-insure.html | work =Philly.com | pages = | accessdate = 2008-01-09 | language = ]

enate Republican Caucus

On January 31 2007, the Senate Republican became the first caucus to release a list of their staffers who received bonuses. [http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07032/758486-85.stm GOP halts bonus practice ] ] The next day, Senate Republicans ended the practice of giving bonuses altogether

Out of sixteen Senate Republican staffers receiving bonuses, only three had worked on campaigns. [http://www.pennlive.com/news/capitol/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/120287220353500.xml&coll=1&thispage=2] Mike Long, a former aide to Senate Pro Tempore Robert Jubelirer, received a $22,500 bonus in 2006 despite taking several weeks off to work on his boss's unsuccessful re-election bid.http://www.pennlive.com/news/capitol/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/120287220353500.xml&coll=1&thispage=1] Senate legal counsel Drew Crompton received a bonus of $19,647 despite working exclusively for Republican gubernatorial candidate Lynn Swann from July through October. [http://www.postgazette.com/pg/07351/842266-178.stm Tracie Mauriello and Dennis B. Roddy, "Bonus pay spread over party lines in state Legislature", Pittsburgh Post Gazette, 12/17/07] ] Erik Arneson, chief of staff to Senator Chip Brightbill was paid $15,000 in bonus payments. [cite news
last = Fellinger
first = Richard
coauthors =
title = Bonusgate: Pa. legislative staff bonuses under microscope
work =
pages =
language =
publisher = The Evening Sun
date = 2008-02-15
url = http://www.eveningsun.com/ci_8271272?source=most_emailed
accessdate = 2008-07-13] ]

On February 13 2008, Attorney General's office officially extended its investigation to the Senate Republican caucus. The Senate Republicans have retained two Philadelphia law firms as legal advisers.

House Democratic Caucus

Eighty of the 100 Democratic House staffers who were awarded bonuses in 2006 either donated money to or worked on the campaigns of DeWeese or his Whip, former Rep. Mike Veon. [ [http://www.samadamsalliance.org/common_sense/id.3116/sense_detail.asp The Sam Adams Alliance - Building a network for liberty - Bonusgate ] ]

DeWeese fired seven high ranking democratic staffers who were involved in the disbursement of bonuses, including his chief of staff. On November 13 2007, some of these staffers were fired after it became known that they had destroyed records that were required to be turned over to the Attorney General Corbett. [http://www.pennlive.com/newsflash/pa/index.ssf?/base/news-56/119524974111020.xml&storylist=penn] [ [http://www.postgazette.com/pg/07326/835982-178.stm State bonus investigation a step ahead of shredders ] ] One of the fired employees, Stephen Keefer, the caucus' former information technology director, filed a wrongful termination suit alleging that he was fired to draw attention and suspicion away from the legislature. [http://www.postgazette.com/pg/08052/859373-100.stm] [ [http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20080222_Fired_legislative_staffer_sues_House.html Fired legislative staffer sues Pa. House | Philadelphia Inquirer | 02/22/2008 ] ] The other fired employees were Scott Brubaker, Brett Cott, Lauren McClure, Earl Moseley, Eric Webb, and Caucus Chief of Staff, Michael Manzo.

At least fourteen staffers from the House Democratic caucus have been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury in Harrisburg. Agents for the state Attorney General's office have also seized 20 boxes of records from the House Democratic caucus' Legislative Research Office in August. The director of that office, Jennifer Brubaker, is married to Scott Brubaker, former director of Staffing and Administration, who was among those fired in November 2007. [http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20071023_Bonusgate_probe_spreads_to_Republicans_.html Bonusgate probe spreads to Republicans | Philadelphia Inquirer | 10/23/2007 ] ]

House Republican Caucus

On October 22 2007 House Republicans received subpoenas seeking personnel records. House Republican Leader Sam Smith conceded there some House Republican staffers worked for campaigns, but said they were not paid with taxpayers' money. [ [http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/state/s_543673.html GOP bonuses legit, Smith says - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ] ]

LaGrotta guilty plea

Former State Representative Frank LaGrotta, who was working for the House Democratic caucus after losing his 2006 re-election bid, pleaded guilty to conflict of interest charges relating to hiring his relatives for no-work jobs. [ [http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/pa/20080205_Ex-lawmaker_guilty_in_ghost-employee_scheme.html Ex-lawmaker guilty in Pa. 'ghost-employee' scheme | Philadelphia Inquirer | 02/05/2008 ] ] The scheme was uncovered during inspection of personnel documents during the bonus investigation. [ [http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/103-11142007-1441033.html Mark Scolforo, Ex-lawmaker faces charges as corruption probes roil Pa. House, Associated Press, 11/14/07] ]

ee also

* Pennsylvania General Assembly
* 2005 Pennsylvania General Assembly pay raise controversy
* Frank LaGrotta
* List of scandals with "-gate" suffix
*Drew Crompton

References