Tony Phyrillas: Legislators abandon property tax reform

Only 43 members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives have publicly supported House Bill 1275, the School Property Tax Elimination Act of 2007.

The vast majority of the 203 House members have yet to be heard on HB 1275, which was introduce by state Rep. Sam Rohrer and is supported by more than two dozen citizen taxpayer groups across Pennsylvania. The bill would eliminate school property taxes for all Pennsylvania homeowners.

Below is a list of legislators who represent districts in Southeastern Pennsylvania (all or parts of Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties) conspicuously absent from the list of HB 1275 co-sponsors. (I won't bother with state reps from the City of Philadelphia since they don't consider themselves part of Pennsylvania except when they're looking for handouts and bailouts from the rest of the state's taxpayers.)

If you recognize any of the names below, you need to contact them today and ask them what's more pressing in Harrisburg than the elimination of school property taxes?

Find out why your representative won't stand with Pennsylvania taxpayers.

And remind them that you will not be voting for them when they stand for re-election in 2008.

The following state representatives are AWOL on property tax relief:

BERKS COUNTY
David Kessler (D-130)
Doug Reichley (R-134)
Tim Seip (D-125)

BUCKS COUNTY
Paul I. Clymer (R-145)
Gene DiGirolamo (R-18)
John T. Galloway (D-140)
Chris King (D-142)
Anthony J. Melio (D-141)
Bernie O'Neill (R-29)
Scott A. Petri (R-178)
Marguerite Quinn (R-143)
Katharine M. Watson (R-144)

CHESTER COUNTY
Thomas Killion (R-168)
Duane Milne (R-167)
Chris Ross (R-158)
Carole Rubley (R-157

DELAWARE COUNTY
William F. Adolph Jr. (R-165)
Mario J. Civera Jr. (R-26)
Robert C. Donatucci (D-185)
Thomas H. Killion (R-168)
Thaddeus Kirkland (D-9)
Bryan R. Lentz (D-161)
Nicholas A. Micozzie (R-163)
Ron Raymond (R-162)
Greg Vitali (D-166)
Ronald G. Waters (D-191)

MONTGOMERY
Lawrence Curry (D-154)
Michael Gerber (D-148)
Robert Godshall (R-53)
Kate Harper (R-61)
George Kenney Jr. (R-170)
Daylin Leach (D-149)
Kathy Manderino (D-194)
Jay Moyer (R-70)
Thomas Murt (R-152)
Josh Shapiro (D-153)
Rick Taylor (D-151)
Mike Vereb (R-150)

Tony Phyrillas

Tony Phyrillas is a columnist for The Mercury in Pottstown, Pa. He received a first place award for Best Opinion Column in 2007 by Suburban Newspapers of America. He was also honored for column writing in 2006 by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Copyright © 2005-2008, THE CENTRIST Blog; All Rights Reserved.

Tony Phyrillas: Impeach Rendell

It appears my role as the leading critic of Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell has been usurped by two other political commentators. I don't mind. It's about time others figured out that Rendell is the worst governor in the country.

Over the weekend, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review columnist Colin McNickle made a convincing case that Gov. Rendell has repeatedly trampled the Pennsylvania Constitution.

"The governor and his corporatist cronies regularly violate Article VIII, Section 8, with each new corporate wealthfare scheme," McNickle writes. "Never mind that such lending of the commonwealth's credit -- guaranteed by the taxpayer swag -- is expressly verboten."

McNickle also cites Rendell's efforts to enact gun control measures as a way to stem the murder rate in Philadelphia as another example of ignoring the Constitution.

"Mr. Rendell is spitting and stomping on the state Constitution again. The governor went before the state House Judiciary Committee last week to plead his case for passage of four gun-control measures, ostensibly to reduce handgun violence," McNickle writes.

Lowman Henry, writing at Lincoln Blog, goes a step further, calling for Rendell's impeachment.

Citing the governor's testimony before a House committee, Henry says Rendell has crossed the line in calling for disarming Pennsylvania residents.

"Last week Governor Rendell did more than question that right, he took the extraordinary step of appearing before a state House committee to argue in favor of taking away the rights of citizens to bear arms."

Henry continues: "That is a clear cut violation of the constitution which he has sworn to uphold. That is an impeachable offense. This being just the latest and greatest blatant disregard for the constitution the time has come to decide whether or not the constitution actually means anything. If it does, he should be removed from office. If it is merely a dusty document having no bearing on the present day affairs of state government, then the latest transgression should be ignored."

I got one too. How about impeaching Rendell for lying about property tax relief? He promised to dramatically reduce or eliminate property taxes in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. Hasn't happened yet.

Now there's talk of a stealth tax increase because the Rendell administration has depleted the fund used to clean up damage from leaking underground fuel tanks.

Rendell wants all Pennsylvania motorists to pay an additional penny for every gallon of gas purchased at the pump. Pennsylvanians already pay one of the highest gasoline taxes in the country.

"We're disturbed that the administration would propose what amounts to a $50 million increase in the gas tax without apparent justification," Joe Pittman, the chief of staff for Sen. Don White, R-Indiana, the Banking and Insurance Committee chairman, told The Associated Press.

Rendell's people argue that the increase would mean about $9 more for the average household, but this governor has nickel-and-dimed Pennsylvania families to the poor house over the past five year.

Maybe impeachment is the way to go.

Tony Phyrillas

Tony Phyrillas is a columnist for The Mercury in Pottstown, Pa. He received a first place award for Best Opinion Column in 2007 by Suburban Newspapers of America. He was also honored for column writing in 2006 by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Copyright © 2005-2008, THE CENTRIST Blog; All Rights Reserved.

Tony Phyrillas: Another legislative pay raise

The gift that keeps on giving ...

Yes, it's that time of year. The Pennsylvania Legislature is on its 12-day Thanksgiving holiday. (I don't know about you, but I was lucky to get Thanksgiving Day off this year.) The latest break comes after a two-week recess around the Nov. 6 election, so the Legislature has been in session for about 45 minutes so far in November.

What has the most expensive state legislature in the country ($320 million annual operating costs) accomplished so far in 2007? Let's review. Property taxes? Nothing. Health care reform? Nothing. Open records reform? Nothing. Energy independence? Nothing. Transportation. Other than agreeing to toll Interstate 80, nothing to solve the long-term problems of the state's crumbling infrastructure and its bloated, inefficient mass transit systems. School funding reform? Nothing.

That means the 253 members of the largest and most expensive state legislature in the country will have to work extra hard in December before taking a one-month holiday recess.

This is on top of the two months the Legislature took off for the summer. It would have been longer, but their summer vacation was cut short by 16 days because the Legislature and Gov. Ed Rendell couldn't agree on a state budget until 16 days into the new fiscal year.

For all the hard work this Legislature does, the members will be rewarding themselves on Dec. 1 with another pay raise.

According to Jan Murphy of The Harrisburg Patriot-News, the automatic cost-of-living-adjustment enacted by the Legislature in 1995 will kick in Dec. 1 when the base salary of a Pennsylvania lawmaker will jump to $76,163, up $2,549 from last year. This does not include the $152 a day "per diem" lawmakers collect for just showing up for work in Harrisburg.

The increase is based on the cost-of-living index in Philadelphia, which is much higher than the rest of the state. Nothing but best for our Pennsylvania lawmakers.

The 3.5 percent pay raise the Harrisburg Hogs are giving themselves is much higher than the 2.3 percent COLA adjustment Social Security recipients will receive in their monthly checks next year.

The same 1995 law provides automatic pay raises for members of the executive and judicial branches of Pennsylvania government. Those raises begin Jan. 1.

At the high end, Gov. Ed Rendell will earn $170,150 in 2008, or an increase of $5,754. Speaker of the House Dennis O'Brien and Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati will collect $3,980 next year, bringing their salaries to $118,896.

Ron Castille, the next chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, will earn $186,582 in 2008. Murphy notes that Castille's salary will be $6,246 higher than outgoing Chief Justice Ralph Cappy, who set the whole 2005 pay raise debacle in motion by complaining that judges weren't paid enough.

That led to a deal between Gov. Ed Rendell, then-Speaker John Perzel and GOP leaders in the Senate to enact the middle-of-the-night pay raise on July 7, 2005.

We all know how well that deal went over. See Russ Diamond's new book "Tip of the Spear" for a blow-by-blow account of the pay raise and the aftermath. There are 55 new Legislators thanks to the pay raise vote and four of the seven seats on the state Supreme Court have turned over since the pay raise vote.

And let's not forget that all 203 members of the state House and 25 members of the state Senate will face re-election next year. The pay raise. The bonus scandal. The PHEAA mess. Ghost workers collecting taxpayer-paid salaries. Secret leadership accounts. It just goes on and on.

Other than giving its members annual pay raises and the best perks and benefits other people's money money can buy, the Political Class has done nothing to benefit Pennsylvania taxpayers.

Read the rest of Murphy's story, including some excellent comments from citizen activists about politicians' pay, at www.pennlive.com

Tony Phyrillas

Tony Phyrillas is a columnist for The Mercury in Pottstown, Pa. He received a first place award for Best Opinion Column in 2007 by Suburban Newspapers of America. He was also honored for column writing in 2006 by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Copyright © 2005-2007, THE CENTRIST Blog; All Rights Reserved.

Tony Phyrillas: GOP chairman leads party off a cliff

Today's word is leadership, as in "an act or instance of leading, guidance, direction." Our second word of the day is teamwork, as in a "cooperative or coordinated effort on the part of a group of persons acting together as a team or in the interests of a common cause."

Leadership and teamwork are two words not in Ken Davis' vocabulary. Davis is chairman of the Montgomery County Republican Party, a position he has held for the past three years. His tenure was been marked by dissension, discord and a noticeable decline in the once dominant Republican Party in Montgomery County.

Under Davis' rule, the party has lost seats in the state Legislature and failed to deliver Republican votes for the governor's race or U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach, who wins Berks and Chester counties, but loses the Montgomery County portion of his 6th Congressional District.

Under Davis, the Republican Party has allowed Democrats to narrow the voter registration gap and the all-important money gap. This is why the race for Montgomery County commissioner was much closer than it should have been.

Under Davis' helm. the GOP lost five county row office contests on Nov. 6. All five have been held by Republicans for as long as anyone can remember, but in January there will be five Democrats hanging out at the Montgomery County Courthouse, planning their next political run while collecting a paycheck from taxpayers.

You can thank Davis for giving the Democrats new life in Montgomery County.

Based on the results of the row office fiasco and Davis' pitiful record over three years, you'd think Davis would have stepped down by now. Or at the very least offered a plausible explanation of why the Republican Party has fallen so quickly during his tenure.

Instead, Davis spent the days after the election pointing fingers.

Davis put the blame for losing the five countywide races — clerk of courts, prothonotary, coroner, register of wills and controller — on Bruce L. Castor Jr., the current Montgomery County district attorney who ran for county commissioner.

Castor did what he said he would: Keep the commissioners' board where it has been for 138 years — in Republican control. Castor finished with 84,735 votes and helped keep the GOP majority by getting Jim Matthews re-elected.

Davis didn't want Castor to head the GOP ticket. He supported Matthews and the other incumbent county commissioner, Tom Ellis. That says a lot about Davis' lack of political savvy. A Matthews-Ellis ticket would have guaranteed Democratic control of the county commissioners.

Castor not only had to face two tough Democratic opponents in Joe Hoeffel and incumbent Ruth Damsker, and take the lead in the Matthews-Castor ’07 campaign, but he also had to contend with Davis' constant sniping and backbiting.

Inexplicably, but no doubt with Davis' support, Matthews ran his own side campaign for commissioner and conveniently left Castor’s name off most of his mailings. An informed source tells me Matthews spent $300,000 on his own campaign, syphoning money that could have helped the entire Republican team.

Davis said Castor is responsible for the five row offices going to Democrats. Castor's coattails should have carried every Republican candidate to victory, according to Davis. Last time I checked, Davis was still the party chairman. When Republican candidates lose, the chairman has to look in the mirror before placing blame.

When you lose a battle, you don't blame the soldiers. You look at the general and his plan of attack. When your favorite team loses, you look at the coach and his game plan.

Davis should have gotten on his hands and knees the day after the election and thanked Castor for keeping Montgomery County in GOP control for another four years.

If you take a look at the political mailings authorized by Matthews-Castor '07, you'll find references to the "Republican Team" and profiles of all 11 GOP candidates who ran for county office, including the five row offices that ended up in Democratic hands.

Contrast that with Matthews' campaign literature, where there's no mention of anyone else on the "team." It's all about Matthews. And by extension, it's all about Davis and the man who pulls his strings, Bob Asher, a big-time GOP fundraiser and national GOP committeeman.

Asher is another party leader with a lousy track record. Republicans lost most of the statewide judicial races this year, which followed a disastrous 2006 when Pennsylvania Republicans lost control of the state House and turned over four Congressional seats to Democrats.

Davis promised to unite the party three years ago. He failed to deliver. And as party chairman, the loss of the five row offices rests squarely on his shoulders.

The Montgomery County Republican Party needs unity and leadership, especially with the presidential election year approaching.

Davis has shown repeatedly he's not a leader or someone who can put his own interests aside and be part of a winning team.

It's time for county Republicans to cut their ties with Davis and Asher.

Tony Phyrillas

Tony Phyrillas is a columnist for The Mercury in Pottstown, Pa. He received a first place award for Best Opinion Column in 2007 by Suburban Newspapers of America. He was also honored for column writing in 2006 by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Copyright © 2005-2007, THE CENTRIST Blog; All Rights Reserved.

Tony Phyrillas: Lawmakers AWOL on property tax relief

Previously I listed 42 members of the Pennsylvania House who are co-sponsors of House Bill 1275, the School Property Tax Elimination Act of 2007.

Since there are 203 members of the House, the vast majority of lawmakers have yet to be heard on HB 1275, which is endorsed by more than two dozen taxpayer groups across the state.

Below is a list of legislators from my neck of the woods (Berks, Chester and Montgomery counties) who are conspicuously absent from the list of HB 1275 co-sponsors.

If you recognize any of the names below, you need to contact them today and ask them what's more pressing in Harrisburg than the elimination of schools property taxes? Check the previous list of co-sponsors to see if your legislator is on your side.

Find out why they are not standing with Pennsylvania taxpayers. And remind them that you will not be voting for them when they stand for re-election in 2008.

Here are The Missing lawmakers who represent districts in Berks, Chester and Montgomery counties:

BERKS COUNTY
David Kessler (D-130)
Doug Reichley (R-134)
Tim Seip (D-125)

CHESTER COUNTY
Thomas Killion (R-168)
Barbara McIlvaine Smith (D-156)
Duane Milne (R-167)
Chris Ross (R-158)
Carole Rubley (R-157

MONTGOMERY
Lawrence Curry (D-154)
Michael Gerber (D-148)
Robert Godshall (R-53)
Kate Harper (R-61)
George Kenney Jr. (R-170)
Daylin Leach (D-149)
Kathy Manderino (D-194)
Jay Moyer (R-70)
Thomas Murt (R-152)
Josh Shapiro (D-153)
Rick Taylor (D-151)
Mike Vereb (R-150)

Tony Phyrillas

Tony Phyrillas is a columnist for The Mercury in Pottstown, Pa. He received a first place award for Best Opinion Column in 2007 by Suburban Newspapers of America. He was also honored for column writing in 2006 by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Copyright © 2005-2007, THE CENTRIST Blog; All Rights Reserved.

Tony Phyrillas: Freshman lawmakers turn backs on taxpayers

A couple more members of the Pennsylvania House have added their names to the list of co-sponsors for the School Property Tax Elimination Act of 2007 (House Bill 1275).

The latest sponsors are Rep. Tina Pickett (R-Bradford/Sullivan/Susquehanna) and Rep. Mark Mustio (R-Allegheny), bringing the total number of co-sponsors to 42.

I posted the full list of 40 original sponsors at this site on Monday.

Is your state representative on the list? If not, why not? Call or e-mail your local legislator and demand that he or she stand with Pennsylvania taxpayers in support of House Bill 1275, which would eliminate school property taxes.

Also note that many of the freshman lawmakers elected in 2006 on promises of reform are not on the list of HB 1275 sponsors. The biggest reform Pennsylvania residents want to see is the elimination of property taxes. Make sure these new lawmakers keep their promises or you can make them one-term legislators in 2008.

A programming note:

On Monday, Nov. 19 at 7:00 PM, Rep. Sam Rohrer (R-Berks), the prime sponsor of HB 1275, will be on the Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN) Call-in Program to discuss property taxes. Appearing with him will be Rep. David Levdansky, the prime sponsor of HB 1600, the fraudulent property tax "relief" plan that is actually a tax increase in disguise and is strenuously opposed by the Pennsylvania Taxpayers Cyber Coalition and the Pennsylvania Coalition of Taxpayers Associations.

Taxpayer groups are urging their members to call the program to voice your support of HB 1275, the School Property Tax Elimination Act of 2007, and especially to let Rep. Levdansky know that Pennsylvania homeowners will no longer tolerate more valueless, recycled approaches like HB 1600.

Tony Phyrillas

Tony Phyrillas is a columnist for The Mercury in Pottstown, Pa. He received a first place award for Best Opinion Column in 2007 by Suburban Newspapers of America. He was also honored for column writing in 2006 by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Copyright © 2005-2007, THE CENTRIST Blog; All Rights Reserved.

Tony Phyrillas: 33 Republicans, 7 Democrats stand with Pa. taxpayers

Some good news on the property tax front.

The School Property Tax Elimination Act of 2007, the only measure endorsed by the two dozen active citizen taxpayer associations in Pennsylvania, has been introduced in the state House of Representatives.

House Bill 1275 has received the backing of 33 Republican and 7 Democratic members of the House. My first question: Why isn't your state legislator supporting this effort to eliminate property taxes? A bill needs a majority of 102 votes to pass the House.

Now is the time to get your lawmaker on the record when it comes to property tax relief. Find out where he or she stands on House Bill 1275 so you can decide if they deserve re-election 2008.

Is there a more pressing issue facing Pennsylvania than property tax reform? Don't settle for half-measures (House Bill 1600) pushed by House Democrats. That bill offers a temporary reduction in property taxes and a permanent increase in other taxes to make up the difference. Homeowners will end up worse off under this so-called tax relief plan.

The only solution is elimination of property taxes, which is the goal of House Bill 1275.

According to David Baldinger of the Pennsylvania Taxpayers Cyber Coalition, the following 40 House members have co-sponsored House Bill 1275.

Rohrer (R-Berks)
Argall (R-Berks/Schuylkill)
Quigley (R-Montgomery)
Cox (R-Berks)
Yewcic (D-Cambria/Somerset)
Denlinger (R-Lancaster)
Phillips (R-Northumberland/Snyder)
Stern (R-Blair)
Baker (R-Bradford/Tioga)
Barrar (R-Chester/Delaware)
Bastian (R-Bedford/Somerset)
Caltagirone (D-Berks)
Cappelli (R-Lycoming)
Creighton (R-Lancaster)
Everett (R-Lycoming)
Gabig (R-Cumberland)
Gibbons (D-Beaver/Butler/Lawrence)
Gillespie (R-York)
Goodman (D-Schuylkill)
Harris (R-Juniata/Mifflin/Snyder)
Hennessey (R-Chester)
Hershey (R-Chester)
Hess (R-Bedford/Fulton/Huntingdon)
Kauffman (R-Cumberland/Franklin)
Mackereth (R-York)
Mahoney (D-Fayette)
Mantz (R-Berks)
McIlhattan (R-Armstrong/Clarion)
Mensch (R-Montgomery)
Moul (R-Adams/Franklin)
Perry (R-Cumberland/York)
Pyle (R-Armstrong/Indiana)
Readshaw (D-Allegheny)
Roae (R-Crawford)
Rock (R-Franklin)
Santoni (D-Berks)
Saylor (R-York)
Schroder (R-Chester)
Steil (R-Bucks)
Swanger (R-Lebanon)

If your state representative is not on this list, get on the phone or e-mail today to find out why they won't stand with Pennsylvania taxpayers.

Tony Phyrillas

Tony Phyrillas is a columnist for The Mercury in Pottstown, Pa. He received a first place award for Best Opinion Column in 2007 by Suburban Newspapers of America. He was also honored for column writing in 2006 by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Copyright © 2005-2007, THE CENTRIST Blog; All Rights Reserved.

Tony Phyrillas: Mixed results for Montgomery County GOP

Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr. delivered on his promise to maintain Republican control of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners but he's on the receiving end of verbal jabs from the county party chairman.

Castor gave up his high-profile job as the county's top law enforcement officer to run for commissioner because he saw a genuine threat by Democrats to take control of the commissioners' board for the first time in 130 years.

Castor was the top vote-getter in Tuesday's election, attracting 84,929 votes and carrying sad-sack Jim Matthews on his shoulder to keep the GOP majority on the three-member board.

Apparently that wasn't good enough for Ken Davis, the politically-challenged chairman of the Montgomery County Republican Party. Davis is blaming Castor because five other Republicans lost county row offices on Tuesday.

Hey, how much water does Castor have to carry for the party? Castor was not only facing a well-funded Democratic ticket in Joe Hoeffel and Ruth Damsker, but also had to carry Matthews, who was a liability, and deal with constant sniping from Ken Davis and the guy who pulls Davis' strings, Bob Asher.

Castor had to constantly watch his back.

The day after the election, Davis is giving interviews to newspapers blaming Castor for the Republican Party's inability to hold on to the row offices. Davis told veteran political reporter Margaret Gibbons of The Norristown Times-Herald that his candidates "did not get the help they thought they would from Bruce (Castor.)"

Cry me a river, launch a boat and row yourself down downstream, Ken.

Way to take one for the team, Davis. What was that they said about the buck stops here?

Row office contests feature nameless, faceless party workers. The public doesn't know the candidates and for the most part, doesn't care who fills those seats. It's up to the parties to make sure they get out the vote for their people. This is where Davis fell flat ... again.

Row offices is where party chairman show their political acumen. In the case of Montgomery County, Davis couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat.

If it wasn't for Castor, Democrats would not only hold the five row offices, but they'd be in charge of the commissioners' board. Davis originally backed Matthews and the other incumbent commissioner, Tom Ellis. That would have been the worst ticket since Carter-Mondale.

Castor responded to Davis' whining with class:

"This is exactly the type of finger-pointing that needs to stop if we are going to continue to be successful," Castor said. "Our party needs to move forward together and that is what I am committed to doing."

If Davis cared at all about the Republican Party in Montgomery County, he would have resigned over the row office debacle on Nov. 7.

The longer Davis remains as chairman, the worse things will get for the party. His term expires in 2008, but he's done enough damage already.

The future for the party is under Castor's leadership.

"It is my belief that a leader understands that when we win, we win together and when we lose, we lose together," Castor said. "That is how I intend to move — forward."

Tony Phyrillas

Tony Phyrillas is a columnist for The Mercury in Pottstown, Pa. He received a first place award for Best Opinion Column in 2007 by Suburban Newspapers of America. He was also honored for column writing in 2006 by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Copyright © 2005-2007, THE CENTRIST Blog; All Rights Reserved.

Tony Phyrillas: Another black eye for PHEAA

Just when you thought it couldn't get much worse for the state's embattled student-loan agency comes the revelation that PHEEA spent more than $2 million on trinkets with the agency's name on it.

The full story was published by The Harrisburg Patriot-News.

According to the newspaper, PHEAA spent $2.2 million over the past five years to place its logo on such promotional giveaways golf balls, pencils, clothing and reusable glowing ice cubes. Huh? What the hell is a reusable glowing ice cube?

I've seen private companies put their logos on knick-knacks. But a state agency that is supposed to provide loans and grants to students to cover the rising cost of college doesn't need to promote itself on ash trays and dish towels.

Wouldn't you think that the $2.2 million could have been better spent?

Some of the more unusual items with the PHEAA logo, according to The Patriot-News, were 150 brass clocks at $22 each, $30 L.L. Bean jackets, 3,000 peppermint candies with its logo on the wrapper and $3,400 worth of gummy brains candy.

Keep in mind that 16 of the 20 members of the board of directors charged with overseeing PHEAA are elected members of the Pennsylvania Legislature, no stranger to wasteful spending.

The best quote about the latest PHEAA scandal came from Rep. John Shapiro, D-Montgomery County: "Gummy brains? The officials at PHEAA must have gummy brains if they were willing to waste scholarship money on these types of wasteful expenditures."

Shapiro promised legislation to limit PHEAA's spending on promotional items.

In case you haven't been keeping track of all the hijinks at PHEEA, the agency spent $900,000 on trips to resorts and spas for its employees, executives and board members. PHEAA then spent $400,000 in legal fees to prevent newspapers from gaining access to those spending records.

PHEAA approved more than $7.5 million in bonuses for its top executives. Some of those executives have decided to retire and will be collecting six-figure pensions.

And let's not forget that PHEAA spent $108,000 on employee passes to HersheyPark to give those stressed-out workers some time to unwind.

One of the clueless lawmakers who serves on the PHEAA board, state Sen. Sean Logan, D-Allegheny, who also happens to be vice chairman of the PHEAA board, defended the $2.2 million for promotional trinkets.

Logan told The Patriot-News that the student-loan agency's promotional giveaways helped advertise it to students and clients in a competitive marketplace.

And you need any more reasons why the cesspool in Harrisburg needs to be drained?

Tony Phyrillas

Tony Phyrillas is a columnist for The Mercury in Pottstown, Pa. He received a first place award for Best Opinion Column in 2007 by Suburban Newspapers of America. He was also honored for column writing in 2006 by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Copyright © 2005-2007, THE CENTRIST Blog; All Rights Reserved.