State Senate Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Brockway, hopes the
House will quickly take action on banning bonuses to staff members
in the Legislature and the state’s student loan agency PHEAA.
The awarding of the taxpayer-paid bonuses has triggered an
investigation by Attorney General Tom Corbett. The investigation
centers around whether the bonuses paid to legislative staff
members were tied to work performed on political campaigns.
Under the Senate’s bill, bonuses to staff members in all three
legislative branches of government would effectively be done away
with. The legislation would also prohibit bonuses unless they were
spelled out in advance in an employment contract or labor
agreement.
If approved, the bill would also require state government
employees who received a bonus to pay it back, and make it a
third-degree misdemeanor, punishable by a year in prison, for any
official who approves of a bonus.
Authored by Sen. John Eichelberger Jr., R-Blair, the bill now
goes over to the House for approval.
“Without question much has been reported on excessive bonuses,
and it is my hope that the House will take quick action on banning
bonuses, and consequently do away with this practice all together,”
Scarnati said.
According to Scarnati, passage of the legislation will further
ensure to the public that the Legislature is serious about cleaning
up its own house.
“While I ended the practice of bonuses in the Senate when they
were first made public, I left it necessary that all state agencies
should do the same,” Scarnati said. “I am pleased that my
colleagues recognized the need to pass this bill as a means to
further public trust in our system of government.”
Speaking on the Senate floor, Eichelberger said the legislation
would force public disclosure of incentive clauses in employee
contracts at all government agencies, including the embattled
Pennsylvania High Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) and pension
management agencies, which award performance incentives.
Eichelberger said he wasn’t sure if bonuses are awarded
elsewhere in the executive or judicial branches.
“I have stated time and time again, we will continue to lead
this chamber in an open, honest manner, with an understanding that
public confidence must be gained,” Scarnati said.
On the House side, Democrats alone doled out more than ,1.9
million in bonuses.
According to state Rep. Martin Causer, R-Turtlepoint, House
Republicans gave out the bonuses as well, but turned over all the
information regarding them to the attorney general’s office for his
investigation.
The salaries of employees in the Legislature is already
available to the public.
