State Rep. Mike Veon: Six months of communting cost the taxpayer $20, 376.
	Chart: Cost of travel
	Rep. Frank LaGrotta: Took at least 20 US Airways flights during the first six months of last year.
	House Democratic Leader H. William DeWeese: Racked up nearly $10,000 in mileage.
	Rep. John Maher: Never flies and who charged taxpayers just $360 in mileage.

HARRISBURG -- State Rep. Mike Veon took at least 44 commercial flights on state business in the first six months of last year and charged taxpayers $13,006 for the tickets.

During the same period, taxpayers also paid $650 a month for a lease on his Jeep Cherokee. And they chipped in another $3,470 in car insurance, mileage reimbursement, tolls and other unspecified travel expenses.

The total cost of getting Mr. Veon, a Beaver Falls Democrat, back and forth to his job in the Capitol and to events in his district was $20,376, by far the highest among Western Pennsylvania's delegation to the state House.

Democrat Frank LaGrotta, of Ellwood City, whose charges were $15,216, came in second for the January through June 2005 period. Republican John Maher, of Upper St. Clair, was at the bottom of the list, by far the lowest with $360.

The costs are enough to have government watchdogs calling for a review of House rules on travel reimbursements.

"It shows we need greater transparency, greater accountability and better rules in place that demonstrate respect for the tax dollar," said Matthew Brouillette, president of Commonwealth Foundation, a conservative think-tank based in Harrisburg. "It's Pennsylvania's loose rules that permit this."

Members of the state House can receive reimbursement in several ways for travel to and from the Capitol in Harrisburg, as well as for trips around their districts or elsewhere on state business.

They can lease cars either by signing private leases for up to $650 a month through private dealerships or getting taxpayer-funded leases through the state Department of General Services.

If they take either of those options, they also are reimbursed either for the actual cost of insurance, gas, oil, repairs and car washes or they are paid 22.25 cents a mile to cover those expenses. If the vehicles are driven for personal use, legislators must pay for a portion of the cost themselves, usually $20 to $50 a month.

Alternatively, legislators can drive their own cars and be reimbursed 44.5 cents per mile.

Under a rule change, their colleagues in the state Senate recently lost their ability to lease vehicles privately, a change that is more symbolic than meaningful, Mr. Brouillette said. It isn't likely to save taxpayers much money, if any, he claimed.

Plane travel costly, too
Mr. Veon isn't the only Western Pennsylvania legislator who flies to Harrisburg at the same time taxpayers are paying for a car.

Mr. LaGrotta took at least 20 US Airways flights during the first six months of last year. The cost, $10,141, was billed to taxpayers who also provided almost $5,000 to lease and operate Mr. LaGrotta's 2005 Chevy Uplander plus $472 in unspecified other transportation expenses during the six-month period. The seven-passenger van leases for $449 a month, of which Mr. LaGrotta pays $20 to cover personal driving.

Mr. Veon, meanwhile, flew back and forth to Harrisburg once a week, on average. Still, his taxpayer-leased Jeep got more than 11,300 miles of use during the first half of last year, according to the representative's mileage reimbursement of $2,525.

Watchdog groups say that's outrageous.

"The constitution doesn't contemplate that kind of expense. If Mr. Veon wants to fly, he's entitled to, but he shouldn't get reimbursed any more than what the mileage costs would be," said Barry Kauffman, executive director of Common Cause/Pennsylvania.

Mr. Veon's office justified the cost by saying that, as minority whip, the representative attends many more committee meetings and private negotiating sessions than his colleagues.

Mr. LaGrotta is a 20-year legislator but will be leaving the Legislature on Nov. 30 because he lost a re-election bid in the May primary.

He said he has been flying to Harrisburg since 1997, when he underwent the first of four spinal-fusion surgeries.

Back pain now makes it difficult for him to sit for the 4¹/₂-hour drive from Western Pennsylvania, he said.

But he said he needs the Uplander, too. He and his staff use it as a portable office as they travel his district, which is 77 miles wide.

Meanwhile, House Democratic Leader H. William DeWeese, of Waynesburg, who drives his own Cadillac, racked up nearly $10,000 in mileage in the first six months of last year. That was double his taxpayer-funded travel expenses if you count several trips on the state plane during that period.

Mr. DeWeese could not be reached for comment.

At the other end of the spectrum is state Rep. John Maher, R-Upper St. Clair, who never flies and who charged taxpayers just $360 in mileage during a six-month period. Otherwise, he drives his own car and pays for gas, insurance and repairs himself.

Most other legislators charge those expenses to taxpayers. For Western Pennsylvania state representatives, the average cost was $5,470 for the first six months of last year.

Mr. LaGrotta's expenses are nearly triple that.

"I never really thought about [the cost]," he said. "It was my mission to just get back and forth to Harrisburg. I know I never made any money or profited off it."

How much is allowed?
The state Constitution does not provide for the high-end travel some legislators are claiming, said Mr. Kauffman of Common Cause.

It allows them to "receive such salary and mileage for regular and special sessions as shall be fixed by law, and no other compensation, whether for service upon committee or otherwise."

House records, though, show that members routinely receive mileage reimbursement to attend committee meetings and other legislative business.

That shouldn't be happening, said Mr. Kauffman. Neither should legislators be provided cars, auto insurance and plane trips, he said.

The Senate's rule change is a small step in the right direction, Mr. Kauffman and Mr. Brouillette said.

Under the change, senators may have to give up their dream cars, but they won't be driving around in their fathers' Oldsmobiles, either.

The state's lease program doesn't include high-end luxury vehicles, but neither does it include economy cars.

Choices include 2006 Dodge Grand Caravans, Chevy Uplanders, Ford Escape Hybrid, Ford F150 pick-ups and Jeep Grand Cherokees.

"There are some members who come great distances and have terrible winters. They, of course, are going to want something different than those that don't drive as far and are happier with a smaller car," said Susan Cohen, executive director of the House Bipartisan Management Committee.

Still, lawmakers living as close as York -- 30 miles from the Capitol -- drive cars leased at taxpayer expense.

"It's not wrong. It's allowed, but it's a little bit excessive," said Rep. Mark Mustio, R-Moon. "It makes you want to say, 'Can't you pay for anything yourself?' "

Mr. Mustio drives his own Chevy Trailblazer and collected $2,432 in travel expenses in the first six months of last year. He takes reimbursement for fewer office expenses and travel expenses than most of his colleagues.

"I had my car before I came here and I had my cell phone before I came here. I was paying for these things already," he said. "You have to be respectful of the tax dollar."

He wants his colleagues to do that, too. That's why he's pushing for the House to address its car-lease policy, as the Senate has.

A call for change
All taxpayer-funded car leases should be eliminated, Mr. Mustio said.

Some of his colleagues, though, say that could end up costing taxpayers more in the long run.

"Where I live here in Armstrong County, it's right on the breaking point of where it comes out about even whether you take mileage or a lease," said Rep. Jeff Pyle, R-Ford City.

"I'm at $162 round-trip [in mileage reimbursement] and I'm thinking real hard about whether I go ahead and keep driving my own car or take a state car," he said. "The final determination for me is what costs the taxpayers less."

During the first six months of last year, he collected $3,128 in reimbursement for travel expenses, far less than most of his colleagues.

A Ford Taurus leased through the state would have cost roughly the same, including operating expenses.

Mr. LaGrotta said the House has more meaningful things to do than address transportation costs. If it does, though, he would oppose Mr. Mustio's idea to end leasing programs and require lawmakers to take mileage reimbursement.

"I've always had a personal aversion to the 44.5-cents-a-mile provision. If you're smart enough, you can buy a car that way and you own it," Mr. LaGrotta said.

"I'll give back this van" at the end of the lease, he said. "I don't profit from it. I don't go on vacation with it. It's a tool, just like the coffee machine and the fax machine."

Rep. Joseph Petrarca, D-Vandergrift, is under the 44.5-cents-a-mile plan. He charged taxpayers $8,239 for travel during the first six months of last year, including more than $2,000 in April alone.

Mr. Petrarca couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

Those variables, as well as the total costs, are what worries public watchdogs.

"The problem with Pennsylvania is that we don't have very tight rules on these things," Mr. Brouillette said. "Some internal rule-making needs to be done."