Taxpayers foot huge bill to run Pa.’s full-time legislature, but are blocked from many details
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About $20 million went into Pennsylvania lawmakers’ pockets over four years in the form of reimbursements for meals, mileage subsidies, per diems, and other expenses.
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Story by Angela Couloumbis of Spotlight PA and Mike Wereschagin, Brad Bumsted, and Sam Janesch of The Caucus
HARRISBURG The Pennsylvania legislature got to work at 1 p.m. on March 18, 2019.
Three and a half hours later on that Monday afternoon, lawmakers had adjourned.
They passed eight bills, four of which eventually became law and none of which was controversial or particularly groundbreaking. One established a promotional board for distilled spirits. Two dealt with agricultural conservation easements.
HARRISBURG â The Pennsylvania legislature got to work at 1 p.m. on March 18, 2019.
Three and a half hours later on that Monday afternoon, lawmakers had adjourned.
They passed eight bills, four of which eventually became law and none of which was controversial or particularly groundbreaking. One established a promotional board for distilled spirits. Two dealt with agricultural conservation easements.
Lawmakersâ short workday cost taxpayers $133,219.23 â more than twice the median household income of their constituents. That doesnât include the dayâs portion of their $90,000 salaries, or the thousands more spent to fund their health care and pension benefits. Nor does it include the compensation for the army of aides who staff the nationâs largest full-time state legislature.
A web of expense accounts, few reporting requirements, and questionable claims of “legislative privilege” help keep Pennsylvania lawmaker spending obscured and the public in the dark.
For Spotlight PA
Over the next year, The Caucus and Spotlight PA will examine and make public specific areas of spending by the legislature as part of their ongoing efforts to follow the money and track taxpayer dollars.
The Pennsylvania legislature got to work at 1 p.m. on March 18, 2019.
Three and a half hours later on that Monday afternoon, lawmakers had adjourned.
They passed eight bills, four of which eventually became law and none of which was controversial or particularly groundbreaking. One established a promotional board for distilled spirits. Two dealt with agricultural conservation easements.
Lawmakers’ short workday cost taxpayers $133,219.23 more than twice the median household income of their constituents. That doesn’t include the day’s portion of their $90,000 salaries, or the thousands more spent to fund their health care and pension benefits. Nor does it include the compensation for the army of aides who staff the nation’s largest full-time state leg
Debate over possible sale of Cumberland County’s nursing home remains hot as foes renew call for pause
Updated Jan 25, 2021;
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The battle over whether Cumberland County commissioners should sell the Claremont Nursing and Rehabilitation Center doesn’t seem to be cooling down at all.
That was evident Monday morning when the commissioners again heard multiple pleas to call off the sale investigation indefinitely, or at least defer it until the COVID-19 pandemic passes.
Those requests came during a meeting during at county officials cited the county-owned nursing home’s financial losses and ongoing difficulty in recruiting and retaining staff. The highlighted a nearly $1 million decline in the home’s find balance over the past year. The possibility that federal authorities will require $500,000 to $900,000 in fire safety to be made at the facility also was mentioned.