HARRISBURG — House Majority Whip Bill DeWeese said Thursday that the legislative bonus scandal, in which he was implicated, would not have occurred if the state had an online database of state spending.
At a news conference to tout a database bill sponsored by freshman Republican Rep. Jim Christiana of Beaver County, DeWeese said such a database would have eliminated problems from the past.
Asked whether he was referring to the bonus scandal, DeWeese said, "That is correct." But asked to elaborate, he said: "I think that speaks for itself."
The concept behind the database is to post every state expenditure online, "so the public can see where their tax dollars are going," Christiana said.
But Stephen Miskin, spokesman for House Republicans, isn't convinced such a database would have uncovered the bonus scandal Attorney General Tom Corbett's office is investigating.
"If somebody chooses to withhold something, there's nothing you can do about it if you don't know about it," Miskin said. "Any system like this is only as good as the input."
Corbett's office in July charged 12 people with ties to the House Democratic Caucus with felonies for using state resources for campaigns. The political activity included bonuses paid to staff members as rewards for campaign work, a grand jury concluded.
"It would be inappropriate to speculate what would have happened with this database in place," said Kevin Harley, a spokesman for Corbett.
DeWeese of Greene County has not been accused of wrongdoing. He served as Democratic leader when $1.85 million in bonuses were granted after the 2006 election, in which Democrats recaptured the majority in the House.
In November 2007, DeWeese fired seven staffers including his chief of staff, Michael Manzo, for their alleged roles in the bonus program, based on recovered e-mails. Manzo is among those facing charges, with former Democratic Whip Mike Veon of Beaver Falls and 10 others.
Manzo and two other former staffers agreed to plead guilty. Veon and others face trial in September.
Manzo testified last year that he believed DeWeese knew about the bonus program. DeWeese said Manzo was lying. DeWeese has strongly maintained he did not know what was happening and that Manzo violated his trust.
In April, the Tribune-Review reported that an e-mail from legislative research analyst Karen Steiner to DeWeese in 2004 thanked him for the "bonus for campaigning." A spokesman for DeWeese has said he did not recall the e-mail.
The grand jury presentment portrays Veon and Manzo as those directing the bonus program. Veon maintains his innocence and contends in court documents that DeWeese did the same things prosecutors have accused him of doing.
The bonus scandal unfolded in early 2007 after the Harrisburg Patriot-News reported a letter from DeWeese to Democratic staffers asked them "not to discuss" their bonuses with other staffers.
Corbett has said he is investigating Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate.
