 
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
              
|
State lawmakers' car leases $1.5 million per year Taxpayers also pick up tab for gasoline and insurance Sunday, February 03, 2002 By John M.R. Bull, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Correspondent
HARRISBURG -- Taxpayers pick up an annual tab of at least $1.5 million to lease cars for state lawmakers, a price that does not include the gas for which they are reimbursed or the insurance that is bought for them.
Graphic: What local legislators are driving
We're not talking economy cars here.
Cadillacs, Lincolns, Pontiac Bonnevilles and Ford Explorers are popular among the rank-and-file. Most are fully loaded and a year or two old. Leather interiors are common. All are American-made.
Most lawmakers lease through the state Department of General Services, which buys the vehicles under state contract, getting better deals than private citizens can, and offering them to lawmakers as part of monthly lease packages that include insurance and maintenance in a state garage.
With the cut rate, the average cost of those vehicles is almost $400 a month.
In comparison, state cabinet members drive state-leased cars with an average monthly cost of $280, because they aren't driving top-of-the line models.
Roughly one-third of the state lawmakers use the state-bought vehicles, including 35 from Western Pennsylvania. The rest either lease cars from dealerships on their own or use their personal cars and bill the state for mileage.
Lawmakers, by internal rules, are allowed to spend up to $650 a month to lease a vehicle on their own. Insurance is paid separately, by taxpayers. Those lawmakers are reimbursed for mileage at 18 cents a mile.
Legislators who drive their own cars on state business are reimbursed at a rate of 36.5 cents a mile.
Total estimated cost of the leases is a minimum of $1.5 million a year for 203 House members and 50 senators. Gas reimbursements and insurance costs are not included in that figure.
While some lawmakers keep logs of the miles driven, useful in case of IRS audits, they do not have to reveal them. House rules say the public can see only how much each lawmaker bills for mileage and other auto expenses but not supporting documentation to substantiate their reimbursement claims.
Those records do not have to be revealed because the General Assembly exempted itself from the state Open Records Law. Last week, though, the House agreed to open to public scrutiny receipts, vouchers, invoices and other financial documents that detail how lawmakers spend taxpayer money.
A committee of House leaders will create a policy specifying the documents that will be open for public inspection. Private information like telephone numbers and Social Security numbers will remain secret. The new House policy is expected to mirror state Senate rules that allow the release of most supporting documentation for the expenditure of public funds.
Lawmakers have billed taxpayers for vehicles for 20 years now.
For decades before that, lawmakers drove their own cars and were reimbursed for mileage. That changed in the early 1980s, when auto leasing became more common.
Lawmakers took such a hammering in the news media over their decision to lease cars at the public's expense that former House Speaker Robert O'Donnell, D-Philadelphia, curtailed the practice and pushed the rank-and-file to lease from a motor pool bought for lawmakers and maintained by the state Department of General Services.
"He caught hell for it," recalled state Rep. Tom Michlovic, D-North Braddock.
A coup soon toppled O'Donnell from his speaker's position and he left office. Over the years, senior lawmakers have gradually switched from the state-leased cars back to leasing vehicles on their own.
Car perquisites are illegal at worst and a bad idea at best, said Barry Kauffman, executive director of Common Cause of Pennsylvania, a government watchdog group.
"It's a desensitizing issue," he said. "It insulates lawmakers from the life experience of their constituents. What do they know about gas prices and insurance costs and car repair bills? Would they continue to go with top of the line if they were paying for these cars, or would they be driving Subarus and such?"
Besides, the state constitution clearly prohibits free-car perks, Kauffman said.
Article II, Section 8 reads: "The members of the General Assembly shall receive such salary and mileage for regular and special sessions as shall be fixed by law, and no other compensation whatever, whether for service upon committee or otherwise."
Therefore, free cars for lawmakers, a generous pension, and the $124 per day stipend for days in Harrisburg are illegal and should be stopped, Kauffman said. Lawmakers are paid $63,600 a year.
"Mr. Kauffman gets paid to make such gargantuan recommendations," said House Minority Leader H. William DeWeese, D-Waynesburg. "I believe the system has worked very well and it is used by other states and private businesses."
DeWeese and other lawmakers say they need cars to get back and forth from the state Capitol and that it is a legitimate expense.
DeWeese drives a used Buick he bought from a friend in December, and now is charging the state for mileage reimbursement.
For three years before that, DeWeese leased from a dealership a $42,000 Ford Expedition for $858 a month, of which $650 each month was paid by the state and the rest from his campaign committee.
In comparison, Gov. Mark Schweiker's Lincoln Towne Car costs less, $735 a month, including a wide array of electronic communications gear.
Some state lawmakers say it is worth the additional expense of leasing through a private dealership because it means the car can be driven by anyone they choose and isn't limited to state employees. Using a state motor pool car carries a prohibition against anyone but a state employee from driving it.
"If I want to have my father take a box of stuff into the district office for me, and take the car, I can do that," said State Rep. Frank LaGrotta, D-New Castle, whose 2001 Buick Century is leased for $650 per month. "It's cheaper than being reimbursed for mileage at 361/2 cents a mile."
The House reimburses for the full monthly lease payment, while the Senate reimburses only for the driving time senators report was spent on official business.
For example, state Sen. Barry Stout, D-Washington, reported that 95 percent of the use of his $645 a month Jeep Grand Cherokee in August was for official use, and he was reimbursed for 95 percent of the lease cost that month.
State Rep. John Maher, R-Upper St. Clair, doesn't take reimbursement for any car-related expenses.
He used a 1997 Chrysler Concorde leased through the state for $329 a month but repaid the House for that cost each month. He now uses a private vehicle, a Lexus. He does not charge mileage.
"That's just the way I am," he said. "I wasn't attracted to the Legislature for economic reasons. The best way is to lead by example."
To Kauffman, the question is whether state lawmakers are doing what's best for the taxpayers or best for themselves when accepting car perks.
"If this was a normal business, they would turn in actual and reasonable expenses and get reimbursed," he said. "The motor pool should be used as needed. This $650 a month really is a nice bonus for them. There's some real money involved."
|
||||||||||||||||||||
