Send in the clowns

Timothy McNulty | July 9, 2009

Here's a regular summertime dose of indignation at the overpaid, underworked Pennsylvania Legislature. But first, it should be noted that the media has something to do with this sad circus, says Brian O'Neill:

Why is the Pennsylvania Legislature so incompetent and corrupt?

I blame the media.

We're not entirely to blame, but I think we play a huge role with our scant coverage of the Harrisburg circus. Not that the rest of America's statehouses are covered any better.

. . . Here at the Post-Gazette, we send two people to Harrisburg to cover the 253 legislators, the governor and whatever courtroom holds the criminal trial of the various corrupt lawmakers. Two reporters is more than most media outlets can say. No Pittsburgh TV station has a reporter stationed in Harrisburg. KDKA Radio and KYW Newsradio in Philadelphia combine to keep a single reporter, Tony Romeo.

The Philadelphia Inquirer, headquartered about 100 miles from the state capital, sends three reporters. The Philadelphia Daily News sends the tenacious columnist John Baer. But in the recent past, the York Daily Record eliminated its lone reporter; the Erie Times News hasn't had one for years; The Morning Call in Allentown went from two reporters to one; and the Associated Press bureau went from four to three.

You get the idea. The statehouse itself, home of America's Largest Full-Time State Legislature, hasn't shrunk any, which is why it costs so much. [Legislative appropriations, with staff, district offices, fringes, etc., amount to more than $1 million per legislator.] They get away with that because we have a half-conscious, under-informed populace and, given the straits of the newspaper industry, our ability to even maintain the coverage we have is in jeopardy.

That's just how it is. In a perfect world, we'd all read the most important stories, and media would devote their resources to the most important places. The reality is that Grant Street is 200 miles closer than the state capital, so suburban newspaper readers or TV news watchers are far more likely to know about Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl than their own state representatives. (That there is only one mayor while a handful of legislators share the same ZIP code doesn't help. No station or newspaper could adequately cover the more than 50 state legislators from southwestern Pennsylvania).

Rubbing salt in the wound: while newspapers can barely afford to cover Harrisburg, legislators keep getting per-diems for meals and lodging throughout the budget impasse, LancasterOnline notes (via GrassrootsPa):

Pennsylvania's 253 state lawmakers have been working without pay during the week-old budget stalemate. But that doesn't mean they're scraping to get by.More than 200 legislators, including two from Lancaster County, are being reimbursed by taxpayers for meals on the days they've been in Harrisburg since July 1 - even though most have no role in the high-level budget talks.

Others are staying in hotels near the Capitol, and taxpayers are footing the bill for that as well.

The tab?

More than $33,000 each day they're in Harrisburg, most spent waiting for Gov. Ed Rendell and legislative leaders to reach some sort of compromise on a spending plan that, by law, should have been in place a week ago. Meanwhile, without a budget in place, tens of thousands of state workers will receive their last paychecks nine days from now.

Paying per diems to lawmakers - either a flat rate of $45 for meals and other expenses or $158 for meals and lodging - during the stalemate bothers those who don't (and even those who do) claim them.