HARRISBURG — As the state's top prosecutor, Tom Corbett put more than two dozen legislative aides and lawmakers behind bars.
As governor, he finds himself handcuffed for refusing to dole out discretionary legislative grants.
For decades, governors of both political parties handed out millions in grants earmarked by legislators and then buried in the budgets of executive branch agencies — a practice begun on a much smaller scale under Republican Gov. Dick Thornburgh and former House Democratic leader Jim Manderino.
By the 21st century, the grants ballooned to $200 million to $400 million annually, based on discretionary money available, said Democratic Rep. Dwight Evans of Philadelphia, the former House Appropriations Committee chairman, who received $1 million for a jazz festival in his district in 2010.
Corbett met with Capitol reporters this week to tout his success in working with the Legislature to avoid tax hikes and pass key bills, such as limiting liability for lesser parties in civil lawsuits and regulating the booming natural gas industry.
But he said lawmakers refused to cooperate on some bills, perhaps because Corbett refused to sign budgets containing “walking around money,” or WAMs, for pet projects. He declined to name them.
Two major policy initiatives of Corbett's that failed to reach a floor vote were school choice and privatizing state liquor stores.
“We eliminated WAMs,” Corbett said. “As you can well imagine, we lost one of the big tools from the tool belt in working with legislators.”
On occasions, he said, offering money for lawmakers' districts would have helped when the governor's office was short of needed votes.
Still, he said, “it was the right thing to do.”
As a candidate in 2010, Corbett opposed the grants because he believed they had spiraled out of control and lacked public transparency, spokesman Kevin Harley said.
Lawmakers had little or no accountability on how they spent the money, Harley said.
Corbett became governor at a time when legislative leaders used grants to leverage votes, said Joseph DiSarro, chairman of the political science department at Washington & Jefferson College.
Eliminating WAMs, DiSarro said, is not a great trade-off for Corbett politically. He'll likely get little public credit for doing so and theoretically would have reaped more benefit from standing alongside lawmakers as they brought big checks to their districts.
“There's no doubt when you are the guy trying to change the culture that it is not an easy way to go,” DiSarro said.
Corbett is showing voters he's a reformer who keeps his promises, DiSarro said.
WAMs are not inherently bad, Evans said, noting that legislators know the pulse of the business community in their districts better than any governor. Many such grants went toward worthy projects, he said.
“What Corbett loves to do is cast the Legislature as bad guys and suggest the only thing the Legislature is interested in is WAMs,” Evans said.
Yet a number of issues influence a legislator's vote, not just a grant, he said.
The $1 million jazz festival in Evans' district was a valid use of money because the festival, open to everyone, generated business, he said.
On some issues, when legislators' votes are hard and fast or based on moral stances, all the money in the pot would not change that person's mind, Evans said. He agreed that WAMs could help influence a decision when negotiating close votes.
Brad Bumsted is state Capitol reporter for Trib Total Media. He canbe reached at 717-787-1405or bbumsted@tribweb.com.
