Lawyers and Lobbyists

Who really runs Harrisburg? The answer appears to be lawyers and lobbyists.

From a column by Brad Bumsted, the state capitol reporter for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

The state House of Representatives paid 26 staff lawyers $2 million last year, records show. Yet the House spent $4.4 million on outside lawyers for legal advice, strategy, filing documents and providing representation for employees who were subpoenaed by a grand jury in a criminal investigation into alleged public corruption.

The investigation was triggered by the discovery in early 2007 that both House caucuses had doled out $3.2 million in bonuses to legislative staffers in 2005 and 2006 -- in some cases because they worked on lawmakers' campaigns.

Counting the Senate, there were $3.6 million in bonuses and a whopping $5.8 million paid for outside legal counsel.

Twelve people with ties to the House Democratic Caucus have been charged with crimes. And the outside legal bills aren't for their defense. They're cut off from state-paid lawyers once they're charged.

The House Democrats have spent $2.6 million on outside legal and consulting fees. The House Republicans' total is $1.8 million and climbing.

In other words, Pennsylvania not only has more than its share of crooked politicians, but the taxpayers get stuck with the bill to defend the crooks and liars when they're finally brought up on charges.

Read the full column at the newspaper's Web site.