OPINION

(Note: The Keystone Scorecard generally does not editorialize state issues; however, owing to the coarsening of political discourse in the state and the nation, we are making an exception on this one occasion.)

We don’t care if you are a progressive, liberal, conservative, democrat, republican, tea party patriot, or a member of the John Birch Society—it is time for all Pennsylvanians to wake up to the fact that the greatest revolution in state government of our lifetimes is well underway. And what we must decide as individuals, is, are we going to recognize that fact and start to shape our government, or are we going to be distracted into joining one of the angry mobs and be swept along to a future not of our making.

Pennsylvania, historically, at least since the Civil War, has had a weak executive style of government, with most policy-making power really lying in the hands of the General Assembly. In fact, not in the hands of the 253 members that comprise that body, but rather in the hands of a much smaller group.

If one wished to roughly outline who holds the reins of power in Pennsylvania government, it would be the Speaker of the House, the President Pro Temp of the Senate, the Chairs of the Appropriation committees, and some of the caucus officers of each party. So when you get down to it, 8 to 12 people firmly control everything that happens in state government.

We are reluctant to include the Governor, because he is term limited in Pa., the others we are talking about aren’t. Many have served decade after decade, and entrenched themselves into power after years of doing favors for the pawns of the General Assembly, sometimes referred to as back-benchers. Because in our government, how much power you wield depends on how close to the front you sit. So while the Governors of Pennsylvania come and go,(and we have a habit of simply switching the party that holds the governorship every eight years) those pulling the strings don‘t.

In the past, the entrenched power in Harrisburg rarely changed. The Fumo’s, Jubelier’s, Brightbill’s, Perzel’s, Veon’s, and DeWeese’s of our government basically never went away, so even though the party controlling the majority might change, that merely meant that the minority leader would rotate into the Speakership and vise versa. The people that rose to power stayed there.

But by a series of unconnected events, that has quietly changed over the last several years, beginning with the pay-raise of 2005. Between retirements, and being defeated at the ballot box; not only did roughly a third of the foot soldiers change, but men who spent decades in leadership were sent packing by the electorate. Most notably Pres Pro Temp of the Senate Bob Jubelirer, and Senate Majority Leader Chip Brightbill.

And the long arm of the law snatched a few from power. Powerful former senator Vince Fumo is somewhere making license plates at present. Former rep. Mike Veon is sitting in a courtroom. Former Speakers John Perzel (GOP) and William H. DeWeese await the same fate. Senate Minority Leader Robert Mellow, the target of numerous ethics investigations decided to retire.

And finally, current House Speaker Keith McCall has decided to retire, along with 15 other house members and four senators.

The point is, that never in the history of Pennsylvania has so much power changed hands so quickly, as in the last 4 years. It is literally a century’s worth of change in an election cycle.

Make no mistake about it, the people who will come along to replace them will drink the Kool-Aid, become entrenched, and perpetuate the status quo unless we recognize that a quiet rebellion is already afoot, and take an active role in shaping our government for the future.

Or we can join one of the angry mobs and be swept along to a future not of our making—except the mob we belong to.

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BONUSGATE

Dauphin County Common Pleas Judge Richard A. Lewis admonished attorneys for “rude, discourteous, obstructive and even obnoxious behavior” during the ongoing Bonusgate government corruption trial and threatened them with fines or imprisonment if they don’t behave.

“Any offensive behavior…will be grounds for contempt and sanctions,” he told attorneys this morning before jurors entered the courtroom.

The warning came after nearly four weeks of bickering among attorneys, sometimes in the presence of jurors. “The combativeness…must cease immediately,” Judge Lewis told attorneys. He also warned them to stop “glaring” and “staring” at jurors and to stop intimidating and shouting at witnesses. He said the attorneys’ conduct has increased the length of the trial. Jurors were told the trial would last four weeks, but at least 30 more witnesses remain to be called.

The trial began February 1st with prosecution witness Mike Manzo. Manzo, former chief of staff to then-House Democratic Leader Bill DeWeese, testified in Dauphin County Court that former state Rep. Mike Veon, approved illegally paying taxpayer-funded bonuses to legislative staffers who worked on political campaigns. Veon and three of his former aides—Brett Cott, Stephen Keefer and Annamarie Perretta-Rosepink—are on trial for their alleged roles in the scandal that has become known as “Bonusgate.” Manzo, who is expected to continue his testimony today in court, pleaded guilty to Bonusgate-related charges last month as part of an agreement to cooperate with prosecutors. He was the first witness called in what is expected to be a month-long trial.

The credibility of Manzo’s testimony about conversations he said he had with Veon and Cott about allegedly illegal bonuses was the crux of part of the cross-examination. He had already testified a total of 34 hours during the course of five days, sticking to his claims that he and former state Rep. Mike Veon, D-Beaver, approved illegally paying taxpayer-funded bonuses to legislative staffers who worked on political campaigns.

As Manzo finished his testimony things got a bit personal, as he was grilled about an affair he had. Defense attorney Dan Raynak’s cross-examination was aimed at showing jurors that Manzo is deceitful and his testimony against Veon and others is not to be trusted. Making way for a new prosecution witness, Jeff Foreman, Veon’s former chief of staff.

Jeff Foreman, testified that state employees looked for minor legislative duties back in the home district so they could get reimbursed, with taxpayer dollars, for expenses while campaigning there.

Scott V. Brubaker, former director of staffing and administration for House Democrats, told the jury that one of the reasons a taxpayer-funded legislative bonus program was pursued by some within the House Democratic Caucus was because they could keep it secret. Brubaker said the creators of the scheme, which has become known as “Bonusgate,” believed the state House of Representatives’ rules allowed the bonus program to be “hidden” from the public. “That’s exactly why we did it. You could get a bonus, and you didn’t have to disclose it,” Brubaker testified. Brubaker was the third prosecution witness to testify during the trial. During his second day of testimony Brubaker told the jury that he and other “emissaries” of the General Assembly’s four legislative caucuses met with the attorney general’s office three years ago to discuss bonus programs run by the caucuses. Brubaker testified that during those meetings, the attorney general’s office was purposely misled about the use of bonuses to reward employees for campaign work.

Patrick J. Lavelle, a former aide to ex-state Rep. Mike Veon, testified that he spent about 80 percent of his time in a taxpayer-funded job raising campaign money. LaValle was the fourth prosecution witness to testify during the criminal trial of Veon and three of his former staffers: Brett Cott, Stephen Keefer and Annamarie Perretta-Rosepink. In a second day of testimony continued to explain his political fundraising efforts while being paid by the state’s taxpayers. But under cross-examination by defense attorneys, Lavelle admitted forging Veon’s name to expense reports related to fundraising efforts and acknowledged that Veon never ordered him to do fundraising work during what would be considered normal business hours at his caucus job.

Bob Caton, the former press secretary for ex-state Rep. Mike Veon, told jurors that his old boss often had him campaign on state time. Caton, now the spokesman for House Speaker Keith McCall, D-Carbon, provided his testimony under a grant of immunity from the prosecution.

David Bliss, a former aide to ex-state Rep. Mike Veon, testified that all of Veon’s staff worked on the representative’s failed re-election campaign in 2006. Bliss, who currently works for House Democratic Whip Frank Dermody, testified as part of an immunity agreement with prosecutors.

Another former Veon aide testifies Veon had to know about illegal staff bonuses scheme. Karen Steiner Blanar, a former aide to ex-state Rep. Mike Veon, D-Beaver, told jurors that it’s “nuts” to think Veon didn’t know his staff were doing political campaigning while being paid by state taxpayers. Blanar said she spent half of her time doing campaign work. She also noted that such work was expected of staffers.

Meanwhile defense attorneys argue no bonuses were issued to staffers for political campaign work, as they tried to poke holes in prosecutors’ claim that state-funded bonuses were distributed to House Democratic staffers as rewards for campaign work. And defense attorneys used testimony from another former member of Veon’s staff to illustrate there was no correlation between bonuses received by legislative staffers and any political campaign work done by staffers. Former Veon staffer Rich Pronesti, who now works for state Rep. Jenn Mann, testified that he received a $2,000 bonus in 2004 but did no campaign work. He also said he worked on a campaign in 2005, but received no bonus. Prosecutors argued Pronesti’s situation could not be used to invalidate the body of evidence they continue to present to illustrate a system they claim had state House employees working on political campaigns while getting paid with taxpayer dollars.

DEATH OF JOHN MURTHA

The special election to select someone to complete the U.S. House term of the late John Murtha will be held on May 18, primary election day in Pennsylvania. Gov. Ed Rendell announced the special election date, adding it to the day when Republicans and Democrats will choose their respective parties’ nominees for the general election. Thus far, only former state auditor general and state treasurer Barbara Hafer, a Democrat, has said she will run for the 12th Congressional District seat, but only if Murtha’s widow, Joyce, decides against a run for the seat. State Sen. John Wozniak, D-Cambria, had been considered one of many potential candidates for the seat, but he said Wednesday he won’t pursue it. Westmoreland County Commissioner Tom Ceraso and former Lt. Gov. Mark Singel have also been mentioned as being interested in the seat, but neither has officially announced their intentions.

THE FUTURE OF UNIVERSITY FUNDING IN PENNSYLVANIA ?

State-related universities may lose all state funding in the future, according to Appropriations Chair Evans. Although officials from some Pennsylvania universities that receive state funding annually say their respective colleges could use even more state dollars, there’s a chance all funding will be pulled in the future. “I’m surprised you’re receiving any funding at this particular point,” he said. “The state system has always been there. …Not that I want to be gloom and doom, but I think it’s a matter of time. …It’s a matter of time that you may not be receiving any appropriation from this state,” House Appropriations Chairman Dwight Evans, told representatives of Pennsylvania’s four state-related colleges during a state budget hearing. Evans said it’s “not anybody’s particular fault, it’s where we are today.” Pennsylvania’s four state-related universities are The Pennsylvania State University, The University of Pittsburgh, Temple University and Lincoln University.

As loyal Scorecard readers will recall, university funding was split out of the budget this year, and a table games gambling measure was enacted to provide the roughly $700 million to fund our state schools.
SENATE MINORITY LEADER MELLOW ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT

Amidst all the expected activity of state budget address day, one legislative leader surprised everyone in the state Capitol . Senate Minority Leader Robert Mellow, announced that he would not seek re-election when his current legislative term—his 10th four-year term—ends later this year. Mellow, 67, is the longest-serving member of the state Senate, first elected to the chamber in 1970. He has held one Democratic caucus leadership post or another since the 1980s. Mellow becomes the third Senate Democrat to announce his retirement, following announcements by Sens. Raphael Musto, of Luzerne County, and Barry Stout, of Washington County. Coincidentally his announcement followed publication of a story in the Scranton Times-Tribune concerning roughly $188,000 in checks made out by his campaign committee, were made out to “cash”.
“WE’VE MET THE ENEMY AND HE IS US” POGO

The Senate of America’s most expensive legislature has created a cost-cutting commission to search for ideas in a tough budget year. The Government Management and Costs Study Commission created by Senate Resolution 161 held its first public meeting recently. Selected chairman of the commission State Sen. David Argall, the author of the legislation, said the commission is about finding budget-cutting solutions that have widespread support and trying to make them part of the state budget. “In the midst of this terrible recession, I have encouraged my colleagues in the House and Senate to pursue our most basic principles, one of which is to control state spending in order to avoid unnecessary tax increases. The latest budget battle was evidence enough as to why we need to control spending,” Argall said. “This commission is designed to look for ways to cut costs and increase savings. I look forward to working with my fellow commission members to do just that,” Argall added.

The commission’s next task will be to address the age old conundrum—
“Why can’t a sleeping man tell if he snores?”

COMING ATTRACTIONS:

• Watch for more Indictments in Bonusgate
• An unusually crowded field of candidates to emerge from the up-coming primaries
SYLVIA BAYLOR

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