A new look at what the Legislature's per diems cost Pennsylvanians should prompt taxpayers to protest this pernicious practice — and shows that too many of the worst offenders represent Greater Pittsburgh.
PennLive, which used Right to Know requests to obtain relevant records, reports that lawmakers' lodging and meal expenses between Dec. 1, 2015, and Nov. 30, 2016, totaled $2.4 million. And lawmakers from Pittsburgh-area counties had nine of the top 10 per-diem hauls in that 12-month period.
Reportedly Rep. Christopher Sainato, D-Lawrence, led with $30,653. Rep. Mark Longietti, D-Mercer, was second at $28,505, followed by then-Rep. Ted Harhai, D-Westmoreland, third, $26,975; Rep. Dom Costa, D-Allegheny, fourth, $26,902; then-Rep. Nick Kotik, D-Allegheny, fifth, $25,275; Rep. Joe Markosek, D-Allegheny, seventh, $22,832; then-Rep. Jaret Gibbons, D-Lawrence, eighth, $22,734; Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny, ninth, $21,975; and Rep. Mark Mustio, R-Allegheny, 10th, $21,654.
No private employer would tolerate how lawmakers on legislative business at least 50 miles from home are reimbursed for daily food and lodging: no receipts required. Unspent per-diem money can be pocketed, even deducted from their taxes. Only if their real employers — taxpayers — loudly and unceasingly demand that they submit per-diem receipts will they require themselves to do so.
And while that $2.4 million isn't much in the bigger picture, it's a glaring example of Pennsylvania's spending, not revenue, problem.
