October 14, 2007

Pa. probe of House bonuses widens

Six more aides have been subpoenaed, including one who got 40 percent extra pay after spending a third of 2006 on leave campaigning..

Mario F. Cattabiani and Angela Couloumbis INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS

HARRISBURG -

In the widening investigation known as Bonusgate, the state attorney generalhas subpoenaed six more legislative staffers to testify before a grand jury examining whether public bonuses were awarded for political campaign work last year, sources with knowledge of the inquiry said.One of the aides who was called to testify received a bonus equal to 40 percent of her salary as agovernment researcher although she spent a third of the year on leave campaigning for HouseDemocrats.The latest round of subpoenas brings to at least 14 the number of staffers summoned by AttorneyGeneral Tom Corbett.All are Democratic employees of the state House - a fact that some top Democratic leaders say isno coincidence.Although House Democrats gave the most in year-end cash bonuses - $1.9 million last year to678 staffers - they believe that there are glaring examples of bonuses handed out on the GOPside, and that Corbett, a Republican, has brushed them aside so far in an inquiry guided by politics."This is an Alberto Gonzales-like investigation," said T.J. Rooney, chairman of the PennsylvaniaDemocratic Party. "It seems that he has ignored the fact that red flags exist on his side of the fieldand is only pursuing the blue flags on our side."Corbett declined to comment about any grand jury matters, citing secrecy rules.But he said he was "extremely disappointed that before the results of the investigation have beenannounced that Mr. Rooney, as the leader of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, has resorted toname-calling."Kevin Harley, Corbett's press secretary, added that the Attorney General's Office had prosecutedRepublicans and Democrats alike, and that "it follows the evidence wherever it leads, regardlessof political affiliation."

The central question being examined in Harrisburg: Were legislative employees paid bonusesusing taxpayer dollars as a reward for campaign work they performed, sometime for their bosses,which some believe would be illegal?Handing out bonuses at the end of the year was a well-established, if secret, practice inHarrisburg's legislative circles. But when it became public early this year after an article in thePatriot-News of Harrisburg, it created a public outcry and became the seed for Corbett'sinvestigation.All four caucuses have said they had policies allowing aides to work on campaigns as long as thework wasn't on state time. Traditionally, staffers took unpaid leaves or used their vacation andcompensatory time to help out, legislative leaders have said.Democratic and Republican leaders of the House and the Senate had said the bonuses were basedon merit, not campaign work, but nonetheless ended the practice after the controversy.Corbett's investigation comes while lawmakers are still smarting from self-inflicted wounds twoyears ago when they gave themselves pay raises.Many in the Capitol fear the bonus scandal, involving $4 million in public money over the pasttwo years, could have the same political toll: Two dozen lawmakers were swept out of officefrom the pay-raise fallout.And House Democrats have the most to lose. They recaptured control of the chamber last year after toiling in the minority since 1995 - but only by a single seat.Given the political stakes, a hush has fallen around this issue, and few want to talk about it.Still, although the grand jury operates in secret, what's known publicly gives clues to whatCorbett has pursued so far.In August, agents from his office hauled away 20 boxes of records from the Legislative ResearchOffice of House Democrats. A month later, eight House Democratic staffers - some of whomworked in that office - were subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury.One, who spoke to The Inquirer on condition of anonymity, said prosecutors had focused their questions on the bonus the staffer received and leaves taken to do campaign work.But what struck the staffer was the question that wasn't asked during more than an hour on thegrand jury stand: whether there was a correlation, promised or implied, between the two."I think they didn't ask me that because they wouldn't have liked the answer: 'No,' " the staffer said.On Thursday and Friday, six more House Democratic staffers are scheduled to appear under subpoena.Four received bonuses last year: Eric Webb, director of member services, $17,685; Linda Notarangelo, an office manager, $445; and Karen Steiner and Michele Borlinghaus, researchanalysts, $15,065 each.

Of the four, Borlinghaus stands out.She had an annual salary of $37,492, but went on unpaid leave for four months leading up to thefall elections to work for the House Democratic Campaign Committee, whose mission is to getDemocrats elected and reelected to the House.While on leave, she was paid $8,900 by the committee.Though she spent a third of the year campaigning, Borlinghaus got a bonus that amounted to 40 percent of her state salary at the end of the year. In 2005, a year when she spent little timecampaigning, she got a far smaller bonus: $1,500.House Democrats said they gave Borlinghaus such a large bonus last year because they had promised her a higher paying job but one wasn't available at the time. They feared she wouldleave for another job.Attempts to reach Borlinghaus for comm.ent were unsuccessful.Bonuses were not limited to House Democratic staffers. At the end of 2006, House Republicansgave $270,000 to 45 aides, Senate Republicans gave $180,000 to 16 workers, and SenateDemocrats awarded $38,000 to a dozen.Top aides to those caucuses say the attorney general has not subpoenaed any members of their staffs or any records.Democrats wonder why those others have apparently escaped similar scrutiny.They point to bonuses given to three top Republican aides: Mike Long, the Senate's former chief Republican strategist; Drew Crompton, a high-ranking attorney for Senate Republicans; andBrian Preski, onetime chief of staff to then-House Speaker John M. Perzel (R., Phila.).Long received a $22,500 bonus in 2006. He also went on leave for about six weeks, off and on,to work for the Republican State Committee, which paid him an additional $13,400 for hiscampaign help.Long said last week that he and other members of the Senate who had done campaign work had been careful not to mix campaigning and their day jobs. He also said only a handful of Senatestaffers who had received bonuses worked on campaigns."More importantly," added Long, now a lobbyist in Harrisburg, "very few of the people whowere off the payroll working on campaigns got bonuses."Crompton took 14 weeks of unpaid leave last year to work on the unsuccessful gubernatorialcampaign of former Pittsburgh Steeler Lynn Swann.For his campaign work, the Republican State Committee paid Crompton $30,300.Then, at the end of the year, he received a $19,500 government bonus."I work a lot of hours, and I've worked on significant issues here," said Crompton, who believeshis bonus was for efforts to enact tax-reform and lobbying-disclosure legislation. "And just because some of us did political work, people shouldn't jump to conclusions and disregard thelegislative work we did."