Better oversight, enforcement of public officials is needed, say analysts

By Darwyyn Deyo | PA Independent

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania's 253 state legislators reported more than $150,000 in gifts and paid travel for 2010, including trips to Ireland and Israel.

 

Legislators are required to submit statements of financial interest to the Pennsylvania Ethics Commission every year, detailing their direct and indirect income sources, any gifts they received in the past year and any transportation, lodging or hospitality they did not pay for.

 

The statement for state Sen. Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, shows a five-day, $2,147.49 trip to Dublin in August, which included flights and hotels. The trip, sponsored by the State Legislative Leaders Foundation, was for a conference on Ireland’s financial problems.

 

Erik Arneson, Pileggi's spokesman, said Ireland is “facing economic challenges very similar to those that Pennsylvania faces.”

 

“Legislative leaders from a number states were able to discuss the international housing and banking crises, the Irish response in terms of spending cuts and tax increases, improving regulation of the banking system, and more,” said Arneson in an email. “All of those issues have direct relevance to issues Pennsylvania was addressing last year and continues to address this year.”

 

There was as much touring as tackling governmental problems, however, with participants spending two days visiting Dublin’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin Castle and the Old Jameson Distillery.

 

State Rep. Curt Schroder, R-Chester, got $2,500 from the Jewish Foundation for travel to Israel. Schroder told the Associated Press the trip was for “educational purposes.”

 

“We meet with members of the Israeli government, press, toured the different hot spot areas, like over near Gaza,” said Schroder, who identifies himself as a Christian.

 

State Rep. Michael Vereb, R-Montgomery, reported $2,549 in gifts on his financial interest statement. Only $2,300 is accounted for on the attachment, composed of donations for an Annual Family Fun Day, leaving $249 unaccounted for, an amount just under the state’s declaration threshold of $250.

 

Vereb called the discrepancy a typo and stood by the $2,300 declared on the attachment, saying he would file an amendment to the report when he returns to Harrisburg on Monday.

 

“It’s a typo and all of my gifts that were reported on the supplemental page are reflective of what I have,” said Vereb. “I don’t know what happened on the front page. We’re going to amend it. My numbers are exactly as attached to my original report.”

 

Vereb also reported $1,017.24 in hospitality, which he said was for a luncheon reception at the Pennsylvania Society event in New York City, paid for by Alpha Natural Resource. The company is the nation's third largest coal company, operating 60 mines in Pennsylvania and other states.

 

Both Vereb and his wife were included in the luncheon.

 

“I was floored,” said Vereb. “I didn’t know about it until January. Fortunately, we have a law that says you report it and it makes you pay attention. I was shocked at the value of it.”

 

State Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, R-Montgomery, reported $12,136.18 for a construction consultant, who the senator said helped him after his house was destroyed by fire.  According to the disclosure form, the services were provided by Thomas Pileggi of Hatboro.

 

Greenleaf said Pileggi refused to accept payment for the work.

 

State Sen. Andrew Dinniman, D-Chester, received $900 from the Sovereign Bank in West Chester for a free parking space near his district office.

 

“I had one of two choices,” said Dinniman. “I could have the state pay for a parking spot in the garage, which is $75 a month, but there’s a bank that’s next to my office and so I asked if I could park there and (the bank) said yes."

 

Dinniman said he felt obligated to report the parking space because it was over the state’s $250 gift reporting threshold, “but I figured if I could save $900 for the state, I would.”

 

State Rep. Warren Kampf, R-Chester, received $700 from Aqua America, a water distribution company, for transportation for the representative, his family and constituents to his swearing-in ceremony as a legislator.

 

“We chartered a charter bus from here in my district,” said Kampf. “I rode up, my family was with me and about 55 friends and supporters were also on the bus.”

 

Kampf said his campaign finance chair, Chris Franklin, works at Aqua America. When the senator called him to raise money for the trip, Franklin offered to have Aqua America pay for the bus.

 

State Rep. Josh Shapiro, D-Montgomery, received $5,150 in the form of two tickets to the National Museum of American Jewish History’s grand opening gala — worth $2,500 each — and for one ticket to the Pennsylvania Society dinner, worth $150. Shapiro did not return calls for comment.

 

State Rep. Tim Briggs, D-Montgomery, received $100 to travel from Temple University. Briggs did not return calls for comment and the statement does not say what his destination was.

 

According to information from the National Conference of State Legislatures, Pennsylvania has one of the weakest standards for gift reporting. Eleven states have banned legislators from accepting any gifts, while other states set a monetary threshold over which gifts must be reported.

 

In Pennsylvania, gifts of $250 or more must be reported, while transportation and hospitality of $650 or more must be reported.

 

Tim Potts, co-founder and president of Democracy Rising PA, a nonprofit organization working for integrity in state government, said Pennsylvania should ban public officials from accepting any gifts because there is no way to protect against multiple smaller gifts under the threshold.

 

“It undermines public confidence when public officials take enormous amounts of money and free gifts,” said Potts. “The people who give these gifts are not stupid. They expect something in return for their generosity, and they get it at the taxpayers’ expense.”

 

Potts said if legislators “have any regard” for voter confidence in government, a ban would be passed on acceptance of gifts to do away with the current "honor system" when it comes to reporting.

 

Terry Madonna, a pollster and professor of political science at Franklin and Marshall College, argued the problem with gift acceptance is weak enforcement by the General Assembly, particularly in the wake of the Bonus-gate scandal in which several state lawmakers have faced corruption charges over illegal bonus payments to staffers who did campaign work. 

 

“We’ve got all these lawmakers who come under indictment. We have all these questions raised about campaign finance relative to public corruption, and not a single chamber can bring them to task,” said Madonna. “(The rules) might as well be nonexistent.”

 

Madonna argued for independent review and enforcement of the rules, and said gift bans and better ethics enforcement would help restore public confidence in government.