Assembly staff got over $1M bonus pay

HARRISBURG - A legislative reform group on Wednesday urged state and federal prosecutors to investigate bonuses paid to General Assembly staffers, including more than $1 million to Republican employees in the 2005-06 session.

Senate Republican leaders disclosed that staffers received more than $363,000 during the two-year period and said they would end the practice. Some bonuses were as high as $41,500.

The disclosure prompted House Republican leaders to release a list of $919,269 in bonuses paid to staffers during 2005 and '06.

"This issue is a live grenade," said Eric Epstein, founder of Rock the Capital, a legislative reform group. The bonuses in an election year presented "the potential for commingling of political and civic duties."

Epstein said voters should presume that any bonuses paid were for legitimate work. But, he said, "This warrants an independent investigation."

Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, a Jefferson County Republican, and Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, of Chester County, said in a joint statement they recently became aware of the bonuses and weren't involved in the decisions.

"As near as we can tell, these are not campaign bonuses. These were legislative bonuses for legislative work," said Todd Nyquist, Scarnati's spokesman.

A recent letter from House Democratic Leader Bill DeWeese, of Greene County, asked Democratic staffers not to discuss the bonuses with colleagues.

DeWeese last night said House Democrats might have paid less than $800,000 in bonuses over the two-year period, but that he did not have a final figure.

DeWeese plans to continue awarding bonuses, but said the information should be readily available to the public. He said none of the bonuses was related to political work.

Harrisburg activist Gene Stilp has filed a lawsuit seeking to force DeWeese and Minority Leader Sam Smith, R-Punxsutawney, to disclose the bonuses and show whether they were related to campaign work.

Senate Democratic Leader Robert Mellow's office reported that 12 employees received a total of $38,000 in bonuses last year for top-quality work, taking on additional duties or putting in substantial overtime or weekend hours. The individual bonuses ranged from $2,000 to $5,000.

Last year -- when Republicans maintained control of the Senate in the November election -- 16 Senate staffers received $179,544 in bonuses, records show. The top bonuses were $22,500 to Mike Long, former chief of staff to Robert Jubelirer, R-Altoona, who was defeated in the May primary, and $22,500 to Senate General Counsel Stephen MacNett, who worked under former Senate Majority Leader David Brightbill, R-Lebanon County, who was defeated in the primary as well.

MacNett, whose base salary is $150,021, remains the Senate Republicans' top lawyer. Long's base salary was $127,283 last year. Now a private consultant in Harrisburg, Long was the key strategist for the Senate Republicans' campaign. He did not return a call requesting comment.

Another Jubelirer aide, attorney Andrew Crompton, took leave last year for months to work on the unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign of Republican Lynn Swann. Crompton, whose salary is $101,523, received a $19,467 bonus last year and $11,300 in 2005. He did not respond to phone and e-mail inquiries.

The House GOP bonuses included $257,046 for Harrisburg staffers and $12,562 for district staffers last year -- an election year when Republicans lost control of the chamber. Steve Miskin, spokesman for the House Republican Caucus, said none of the bonuses was related to political work.

Former House Speaker John Perzel's chief of staff, Brian Preski, was paid by Perzel's campaign as his campaign manager. Preski, who recently left Perzel's staff to join a law firm, received a $16,427 state bonus last year and a $15,527 bonus the year before.

Erik Arneson, Brightbill's former chief of staff who left the Senate to work on Brightbill's campaign and then returned to staff, received a $15,000 bonus last year. Arneson, who is on Pileggi's staff, is paid $101,250.

"I was told by Senator Brightbill that the bonuses were for work done on legislative issues requiring work beyond normal hours, such as Growing Greener, eminent domain reform and lobbying disclosure," Arneson said. "It had nothing to do with any campaign."

Two top Senate aides received bonuses of $20,000 last year: David Atkinson, former Jubelirer spokesman, who is paid $134,106 and works for the Senate Appropriations Committee; and Donna Malpezzi, a Brightbill aide who works for Pileggi, making $142,035.