| abstract
| - HARRISBURG -- While lawmakers tout reform and transparency in government, the state House refuses to let the public fully examine its taxpayer-financed payroll. A long-standing policy permits citizens to review only 15 salaries at a time. That means it would take more than three months to review all 1,700 House salaries if the chief clerk's office agreed to accommodate such a request each day. Not releasing the full payroll has "just always been the policy of this office since the beginning of time," said Denise Johnson, executive secretary of the clerk's office. It's an "inner-office policy," said Johnson, who might release 20 names a day on a large request. Asked how long it would take to get the first 15 House salaries, Johnson said Friday: "It would not be today." Transparency emerged as an issue this week when House leaders disclosed that bonuses paid to staffers exceeded $3.6 million during the past two years, including more than $2.3 million for Democrats alone. "No way," said Mable Mazza, of Allegheny Township, Westmoreland County, a retiree. "You should be able to see it, because it's public record." She said the bonuses paid to legislative staffers amount to "theft by deception." "There should be a better accounting. They should account for every dollar they get," said Stanley Shutok, 85, of Canonsburg, Washington County, a retired Air Force major. He thinks the House payroll policy and legislative staff bonuses are wrong. "How do they get away with it? I thought it was supposed to be out in the open," Shutok said. The Senate provides a complete payroll for inspection in Harrisburg, but typically after a delay of a few days or weeks. This week, Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, a Jefferson County Republican who has pledged to operate the Senate with transparency, made available in about five minutes the full payroll for Senate employees. Senate Republicans were the first caucus to release a list of staff bonuses. Neither House Democrats nor House Republican leaders released their payrolls when producing the bonuses. Such records show how much staff members are paid annually, the legislators to whom they are assigned, where and what hours they work, and whether they are provided certain benefits. Tom Andrews, spokesman for House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese, D-Greene County, argued that payroll records are available in the House Chief Clerk's Office, even if they must be requested 15 at a time. Andrews, who received a $12,750 bonus last year, told reporters who wanted the information to check with the clerk's office. The information House Republicans released on bonuses included a number that officials said showed what percentage of an employee's salary the bonus represented. There were 264 bonuses on the House GOP list -- only a fraction of the caucus' employees. "They are just trying to make the process harder," said Rep. Tim Mahoney, a Uniontown Democrat who advocates open records. Yet, House and Senate leaders say they'll support legislation to apply the state's Right to Know Law to the Legislature, which exempted itself when writing the law. House Speaker Dennis O'Brien, R-Philadelphia, said a commission he formed to study legislative reforms should consider the policy allowing only piecemeal review of payroll information. "I'm not trying to dodge this," O'Brien said in an interview this week. "They are issues we will submit to the reform commission for a recommendation and a response. I don't want to pre-judge. It's a policy issue they should look at." The disclosure of staff bonuses was "almost a slap in the face, at a time when you are trying to put confidence back in the system," said Rep. Mark Mustio, R-Moon, who supports full release of payroll information. "I am for showing everything." Brad Bumsted can be reached at bbumsted@tribweb.com or (717) 787-1405.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)