HARRISBURG -- Eighty of the 100 Democratic state House staffers awarded the biggest bonuses in their government paychecks last year either donated money to or worked on the political campaigns of the two powerful Democratic leaders who controlled the bonuses.

Those staffers, all of whom received bonuses of $5,700 or more, gave money to or campaigned for House Democratic Leader Bill DeWeese of Waynesburg; his former second-in-command, Rep. Mike Veon of Beaver Falls; or the House Democratic Campaign Committee, which Mr. DeWeese chairs. Some gave to or worked for all three.

	Related link House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese defends bonuses for party caucus employees.

By contrast, campaign finance reports showed that of the 111 staffers who were given the minimum bonus -- $65 -- only three were similarly connected to the DeWeese or Veon campaigns or the HDCC.

The recent disclosure that House Democrats paid out $1.9 million in bonuses to staffers -- more than four times the amount of the bonuses paid out in 2005, a non-election year -- has raised questions about whether bonus money was used to reward the staffers for political work, which would be illegal.

Mr. DeWeese and Mr. Veon, who was unseated in the fall election, said there was no connection between the bonuses and election work.

It should be no surprise that legislative staffers were also involved in campaigns, Mr. DeWeese said.

"People choose to come to the Capitol instead of going to work for PNC Bank or Sunoco or the school district because they love politics," he said. "It's a natural phenomenon that higher-paid folks, who have been on campaign teams back in their cities and townships, would want to be involved [in campaigns] at the highest level in the statehouse."

The campaign activity of the staffers who received big bonuses is documented in finance reports that candidates and political committees are required to file.

Top recipients
Brett Cott, Mr. Veon's administrative director last year and now a DeWeese staffer, got the second-biggest bonus, $25,065. Records indicate he was active in Mr. Veon's campaign, receiving more than $8,000 in reimbursements for campaign-related expenditures from March through November. He donated $1,000 to Mr. Veon's campaign and $100 to Mr. DeWeese's.

Mr. Cott, former director of the House Democratic Campaign Committee, also served as Mr. Veon's campaign spokesman last fall and was treasurer of the Conservative Committee Against Higher Taxes, a political action committee that raised money for Mr. Veon.

Kevin Sidella, a research specialist on Mr. DeWeese's staff, received a $20,185 bonus -- fifth largest on the Democratic staff. That was 17 times more than his $1,185 bonus for 2005, a non-election year.

Campaign finance reports show that Mr. Sidella was politically active last year on behalf of Mr. Veon and Mr. DeWeese. Mr. Sidella, who is listed as Mr. DeWeese's campaign treasurer, donated $1,530 to Mr. DeWeese's campaign; $250 to Mr. Veon's campaign; and $100 to the House Democratic Campaign Committee.

From Jan. 9 to Nov. 11, Mr. Sidella received 17 reimbursements from the DeWeese campaign totaling nearly $15,000 for campaign travel, payments to poll workers and other campaign-related expenses he incurred.

Mr. Sidella and Mr. Cott did not return phone messages seeking comment.

Stephen A.H. Keefer, director of information technologies for House Democrats and Mr. Veon's campaign treasurer, received a $17,685 bonus last year -- 11th largest on the Democratic staff and $12,500 more than in the previous year. He donated $900 to Mr. Veon's campaign and $300 to Mr. DeWeese's.

From March 2 to Nov. 13, the Veon campaign paid him nearly $3,600 in six reimbursements for campaign expenses he incurred. The Veon report does not specify what the reimbursements were for.

"Absolutely not," Mr. Keefer said when asked if his bonus was tied to political work. "I can't say anything other than it was a good year for a lot of us. We got a lot of work done and we accomplished a lot of things. That's all I have to say."

Patrick Grill, a policy analyst for Mr. DeWeese, got a $12,685 bonus -- a more than tenfold increase over the prior year.

He donated $1,000 to Mr. DeWeese's campaign and $300 to the House Democratic Campaign Committee. From Jan. 24 to Nov. 13, the DeWeese campaign reimbursed him eight times for campaign travel and one time for campaign expenses -- a total of more than $3,500. He also got three payments from the House Democratic Campaign Committee for some $660 in expenses incurred.

Of his bonus, Mr. Grill said he "did a lot of work in the Capitol," specifically on the Growing Greener II environmental initiative. "I think [the bonus] was all because of the legislative work I did." He referred further questions to DeWeese spokesman Tom Andrews.

Mr. Andrews, himself the recipient of $12,750 in bonus money, has said repeatedly that the bonuses were awarded to staffers based on merit for their legislative work.

"It's a legislative bonus for legislative work. There's no relation to campaigning. Period," he said Thursday.

Mr. Andrews said one reason for the large increase in bonuses was that a review of pay scales showed that the Democrats were much lower-paid than their counterparts on House Republican staff. Thus far, the Democrats have refused to release pay scale information. (State House Speaker Dennis O'Brien last week instructed the House chief clerk to make the salaries of all 1,600 House employees public by Feb. 16.)

Democrats also have not provided the dates on which the bonuses were awarded.

Some of the bonuses were rewards for employees who worked long hours or on weekends, Mr. Andrews said. But he acknowledged that those employees also may have received compensatory time off for that work.

Mr. DeWeese said employees' workload was heavier because their bosses, including him, spent less time than usual in the Capitol and more time campaigning.

"While many of us were out in the precincts, our staff was working overtime in the Capitol Complex," Mr. DeWeese said. "Staff was working pell-mell to try to advance our agenda."

The workload was further increased by the absence of staffers who had taken vacation days or compensatory time to work on campaigns, too, Mr. DeWeese said.

"I don't expect everyone to agree that compensation incentives are a useful management tool; nevertheless, all these payments have had a positive effect on morale and teamwork and, I believe, have enhanced overall employee productivity," he said.

Still, the practice will likely end because of media scrutiny and the appearance of impropriety, Mr. DeWeese said. Already, he has suspended the practice pending a discussion by a new House committee on rules reform.

Harrisburg activist Gene Stilp has asked the U.S. attorney to investigate the possibility that bonuses were tied to campaign work and has sued for return of any public money spent for non-legislative purposes.

"Reform has taken a back seat to a new scandal," said Mr. Stilp, one of numerous activists who were instrumental in the fight to force lawmakers to roll back the controversial 2005 pay raises. "I think this is bigger than the pay raise."

A pivotal election
The 2006 election was important to Democrats, who believed they had a chance to regain the majority in the House for the first time in 12 years. But the ante was raised for Mr. DeWeese and Mr. Veon because they played leading roles in engineering the July 7, 2005, dark-of-night pay raise that infuriated voters.

As it turned out, Mr. DeWeese narrowly survived a challenge by Republican Greg Hopkins in the November general election, and Mr. Veon was turned out of office after 11 terms by GOP long-shot Jim Marshall. But in the end, the Democrats had their grail -- a net gain of eight seats in the House, giving them a 102-101 majority.

The Democratic takeover was soon overshadowed by the furor over the bonuses paid to staffers, first reported Jan. 27 in The Patriot-News of Harrisburg.

The newspaper reported that Mr. DeWeese had written to the bonus recipients, warning them to keep quiet about the money. The letter stated: "Since this bonus payment is of an extraordinary nature not widely received by your colleagues, we cannot stress strongly enough the need for you not to discuss this with any other staff person or member."

Mr. DeWeese said he wasn't trying to cover anything up and that he was asking the staffers to keep the bonuses secret to protect against hurt feelings among the people who didn't get big bonuses.

Mr. DeWeese initially refused to disclose the amounts and recipients of the bonuses, and his spokesman Mr. Andrews called them an "internal caucus matter." But House and Senate Republicans released details of their much smaller bonus outlays, ratcheting up the pressure on House Democrats to do likewise.

On Feb. 1, a day after estimating their bonus payments at $400,000, the House Democrats released itemized listings of $1.9 million paid to staffers.

Reaction was swift. Mr. Stilp asked for an investigation by state Attorney General Tom Corbett. (Last week he reconsidered Mr. Corbett's ability to be impartial and urged federal authorities to get involved.)

Gov. Ed Rendell said he was shocked by the amounts of the bonuses. "It's stunning to me that [legislative leaders] would do this. It shows the need for reform is urgent," he said.

Also surprised were some rank-and-file lawmakers whose staffers got the bonuses.

"I don't know who got what. The members don't know," said Rep. David Levdansky, D-Forward. "The members need to know if their staff is getting bonuses. There should be some system, some ties to job performance. I'm not sure there is."

Three of Mr. Levdansky's staffers received bonuses, ranging from $565 to $2,831, according to records Mr. DeWeese released.

Mr. Levdansky said he didn't know what criteria were used to award the bonuses.

"I'm not opposed to staff bonuses, but I think they ought to be fair and appropriate, and I think members ought to be involved in decisions about them," he said.

Mr. Stilp said the matter was part of a cascade of questionable conduct. In a complaint he filed in Commonwealth Court, he demanded that any public money spent on non-legislative work be returned to the treasury.

"Where we go forward from here," he said, "is to take depositions, do interrogatories and interview a million people -- and we get to the bottom of it."