Saturday, July 12, 2008
By Tom Barnes, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau
HARRISBURG -- State Sen. John Eichelberger is demanding that a House committee stop stalling on legislation he has sponsored to ban all bonuses for legislative employees.
In a statement released yesterday, the freshman Republican from Blair County said the charges filed by Attorney General Tom Corbett against 12 present or former Democratic House members and staffers are a strong reason why Senate Bill 986 is needed.
He introduced the Commonwealth Agency Bonus Ban Act in early 2007, after news reports outlined several million dollars in bonuses paid to legislative staffers of both parties in the 2006 election year.
His bill was unanimously approved by the Republican-controlled Senate last October, but he said it has "languished" in the Democrat-controlled House State Government Committee since then.
The committee is led by Rep. Babette Josephs, D-Philadelphia. But Republicans said that top House Democrats, including Majority Leader Bill DeWeese of Waynesburg, are helping to keep the bill bottled up. Ms. Josephs didn't respond to a request for comment, but Tom Andrews, a DeWeese aide, said:
"In early 2007, Majority Leader Bill DeWeese eliminated bonuses for House Democratic Caucus employees. He is in favor of the Eichelberger proposal; however, caucus staff is reviewing the language relative to state labor contracts and pension fund portfolios."
The former No. 2 House Democrat, Rep. Mike Veon of Beaver, a close political ally of Mr. DeWeese, was the most prominent figure charged with misuse of taxpayer funds by Mr. Corbett.
Mr. DeWeese's former chief of staff, Mike Manzo, and his wife, Rachel Manzo, were also charged.
"The people of Pennsylvania expect to have this [bonus] issue addressed in law, not by the often-unkept promises of lawmakers who claim that it will never happen again," Mr. Eichelberger said.
He will ask House leaders "for immediate action on this bill. Their lack of action under the current circumstances is truly unbelievable."
Bureau Chief Tom Barnes can be reached at tbarnes@post-gazette.com or 717-787-4254.
First published on July 12, 2008 at 12:00 am
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08194/896590-178.stm
