DN Editorial: Vampires in Pa.: The DeWeese conviction and the budget address

TODAY'S budget address by Governor Tom Corbett is not expected to be pretty: not with an expected shortfall of $500 million that will undoubtedly be met with cuts in health, human services and higher education. We can expect the usual outcry from education and social-service advocates over these cuts, and the usual complaints from the governor and others that spending for higher ed, human services and health is wasteful and needs to be pared.

Here's a suggestion - let's instead moan about another key cause of budget problems in the state: the vampire class in Harrisburg, otherwise known as the members of the General Assembly, who help suck the monetary lifeblood out of the state.

Yesterday, after a Dauphin County jury convicted William DeWeese on five counts of theft, conspiracy and conflict of interest, we'd call him the new king of vampires. The conviction stems from his hiring and forcing staff to do campaign work while on the taxpayer dime.

These kind of charges are becoming more and more familiar. What's noteworthy - and particularly vampirish - about DeWeese's conviction is his assertion, after the conviction, that he would continue with his re-election bid. He thinks that "in the court of public opinion, I shall be favorably received."

Maybe his statement was just an attempt to save face. But we fear that he actually believes that Greene County voters will reelect an official who has been convicted of spending public money to ensure his re-election.

According to DeWeese's 2009 grand jury presentment, it's a by- now-familiar tale of a legislator who blatantly handled re-election efforts from his legislative office, and forced his publicly funded staff to campaign on his behalf.

So familiar that a year later, a special grand jury report took on the culture of Harrisburg that urged reform following the Bonusgate scandal; this separate report (find it at http://media. philly.com/documents/ bonusgate.pdf) described a legislative body with bloated staffs and budgets, no accountability and gross disregard for taxpayer money.

And if you don't believe the bloated part, consider this: the Legislature has a reserve fund of $115 million dollars. They parted with some of this reserve last year. But in a state with a looming deficit, how can this be allowed to stand? Or are voters too drained of blood to do anything?

To be sure, there are other factors shaping the state's budget problems. An obsession with "no new taxes" despite declines in revenues plays a big part, especially in the coddling of the Marcellus Shale gas industry.

A new agreement between the governor and state Republicans would impose a local impact fee, but the net result is a rate that's half of what Texas charges its drillers. The deal would give counties the option of not imposing an impact fee.

Time to get out the silver stakes.