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It's not right and ought to be fixed. First, the background.
As reported by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and the Associated Press, House Democrats paid more to law firms and consultants (more than $1.4 million) while under investigation than they paid in those '06 employee bonuses ($1.3 million) at the heart of the current scandal.
House Republicans paid $128,500 in legal fees but the investigation of them is newer, and GOP spokesman Steve Miskin says, "It will go up as the investigation proceeds . . . I dare say it's already increased."
Senate Republicans tell me that, so far, they have spent $260,000.
Senate Democrats didn't return my phone call, but told the AP that they paid less than $5,000.
But remember, indicted Democratic Sen. Vince Fumo charged you more than $1.2 million in legal fees while under another investigation.
All this money's spread to more than a dozen firms, including Ballard Spahr, Conrad O'Brien, K&L Gates (the renamed Kirkpatrick & Lockhart) and Chadwick Associates, a D.C.-based risk consulting firm.
Altogether, you so far have paid $3.03 million to defend an institution you also pay to represent you.
And I stress so far.
During just one week, Aug. 6-13, according to House documents, Democrats paid legal bills totaling $42,850 - a little less than the state's annual median household income.
Democratic and Republican caucuses handed out $3.6 million in bonuses during 2005-06. By the time this investigation is over, they'll hand out much more than that to lawyers and consultants.
You paid for the bonuses. You pay for the fees. You are, in other words, bitten twice.
Plus, it's pretty clear that internal policy and opinion on the issue varies.
Basically, the Legislature (aka You) pays legal fees, without any caps, for lawmakers or employees interviewed or subpoenaed in a work-related investigation.
Such payments stop if a person is charged with a crime.
But - and not all legislative lawyers agree with this - it's possible that a person charged then acquitted could claim taxpayer reimbursement for private legal fees.
"I believe they would have some [legal] argument," says GOP Senate General Counsel Steve MacNett.
Just so you know. And I hope you're shaking your head.
Neither chamber had a written policy on this stuff until the current scandal involving charges of misuse of millions of tax dollars for campaign and personal expenses.
The Senate finalized a policy in the spring calling for closer bipartisan review of legal contracts and "reasonable" fees.
House officials say that they have no written policy, but House Democrats require their employees to sign letters agreeing to pay back legal fees if convicted of a crime.
There's no mention of paybacks in the Senate policy.
The money for fees comes from hundreds of millions of tax dollars squirreled away by legislative leaders for whatever they see fit.
This alone is an ongoing issue in reform efforts.
House Deputy Speaker Josh Shapiro, D-Montgomery County, for example, said this month: "We need to eliminate the legislative surpluses and invest them in our commonwealth's needs."
(Of course then they'd pass a Legislative Legal Defense Fund Tax.)
Sen. Jeff Piccola, R-Dauphin County, who's pushing for a special session on ethics, outside audits of legislative accounts and a legislative inspector general, questions paying for outside counsel.
"I don't like it all," says Piccola. "We all get tarred. It makes the whole Legislature and its process look absolutely awful."
How to fix it? Where's in-house counsel? There are thousands of legislative employees, dozens upon dozens are well-paid lawyers - use 'em.
Or Piccola's proposed inspector general could honcho institutional defense. At a minimum, there should be caps on fees, and every caucus should adopt the House Democrats' "pay back" provision - preferably retroactively. The public treasury's already been raided, the public trust already trampled.
The Legislature should stop adding insult to injury. *
Send e-mail to baerj@phillynews.com.
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