HARRISBURG - State lawmakers representing Northeast Pennsylvania spend more than half a million taxpayer dollars annually in rent on district offices, a Times-Tribune analysis of financial records revealed.
The 22 House members and eight senators spend nearly $650,000 on leases for 52 offices at locations throughout the region, according to records for current leases obtained through Right to Know Law requests and contracts posted on the state Treasury Department's website.
The annual office rent is one of the biggest individual expenditures of lawmakers and one of the most noticeable to constituents.
Rules regarding district offices have tightened in the Senate following revelations in 2009 that former Sen. Robert Mellow, D-22, Archbald, directed more than $200,000 in state-funded rental payments from 2001 to 2007 for his main office at 524 Main St., Peckville, to Brad Inc., a firm co-owned by his then-wife Diane. Mellow obtained his ex-wife's 50 percent ownership stake in 2007 following the couple's divorce.
The Senate adopted a rule in the spring that puts limits on any financial interests that senators can have in district offices. The rule requires a senator to provide written verification that he or she or an immediate family member has no financial interest in an office.
However, getting a handle on the total amount spent on legislative leases is difficult. The legislative audit report for fiscal 2009-10 lists $14.4 million spent on leases, but this sum includes leases for equipment and other items, too. The General Assembly spent a total of $317 million that year.
Offices are in various spots, depending upon whether a district is based in a city, suburban area or rural area. They range from suites in downtown buildings to rooms in borough and township buildings and storefronts in small towns or strip malls along commercial highways.
There's even one with a drive-through window, courtesy of Rep. Kevin Murphy. D-113, Scranton; who leases space in the Jay Commons Building in Scranton.
"People have been extremely pleased with that added convenience," Murphy said.
The problem with deciding whether district offices are worth the expense is whether they are used to address legitimate constituent needs or are value-added services to help lawmakers get reelected, said activist Eric Epstein, co-founder of RocktheCapital.com.
"Office space should either be leased or purchased from the DGS (Department of General Services) and all expenses independently audited," he said.
Leasing practices vary, with landlords ranging from commercial realtors, local governments and individual building owners. Rents across the Northeast vary widely as well, from a high of $41,472 annually for an office for Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-18, Bethlehem, to as low as $1,800 annually at a satellite office for Rep. Mario Scavello, R-176, Mount Pocono.
Since they represent almost four times as many constituents as House members, senators have a main district office as well as satellite offices that cost less to operate. Some House members with multi-county districts have a satellite office. This helps maintain representation in smaller counties that were entitled to at least one state House member until the U.S. Supreme Court's "one man, one vote" ruling led to the modern district reapportionment system 50 years ago.
One of the first decisions a lawmaker faces is where to open a district office.
Freshman Sen. John Yudichak, D-14, Nanticoke, opened a district office in Exeter in January to make services more accessible to an underserved area. Following devastating flooding from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee, some of Yudichak's constituents in West Pittston and Jenkins and Plains townships in search of flood assistance found the Exeter office more convenient than the federal-state disaster recovery center at Luzerne County Community College in Nanticoke, the senator said.
Some Senate leases provide for annual rent increases pegged to the Mid-Atlantic region consumer price index, with a cap of no more than 3 percent per year. The Senate chief clerk includes the CPI provision in leases where landlords want incremental rate hikes. Yet not all landlords ask for higher rent. Rent at Rep. Matt Baker's Wellsboro office has remained stable at $775 a month for years, he said.
Lease terms vary with newer Senate leases making provisions for termination in case district boundaries change with reapportionment, for example. Some older leases basically state the rental fee.
Some say downsizing the Legislature would result in less money spent on district offices. Various bills in the hopper call for reductions in House and Senate districts, but they haven't advanced very far.
District offices first opened in the 1970s as part of the General Assembly's transition from a part-time to a full-time Legislature. A special commission in 1969 recommended the establishment of both district and Capitol offices to help lawmakers gain co-equal status with the executive branch.
NEPA District offices and annual rent
Senate
- Sen. David Argall, R-29, Mahanoy City, $15,090, with satellite offices in Hamburg and Pottsville, totaling $16,950
- Sen. Lisa Baker, R-20, Dallas, $22,417, with satellite in Hawley, $5,348
- Sen. John Blake, D-22, Scranton, $28,800, with satellite in Archbald, $7,200
- Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-18, Bethlehem, $41,472, with satellites in Stroudsburg and Whitehall, $17,012
- Sen. Pat Browne, R-16, Allentown, $34,960, with satellite in East Allen Twp., $7,137
- Sen. John Gordner, R-27, Bloomsburg, $11,000, with satellites in Mount Carmel, Millersburg and Shamokin Dam, $24,372
- Sen. Gene Yaw, R-23, Williamsport, $31,100, with satellite in Towanda, $15,352
- Sen. John Yudichak, D-14, Nanticoke, $13,500, with satellites in Exeter and Jim Thorpe, $20,136
House
- Rep. Matt Baker, R-68, Wellsboro, $9,300, with satellite in Troy, $9,000
- Rep. Karen Boback, R-117, Hunlock Lake, $6,600, with satellite in Tunkhannock, $5,700
- Rep. Rosemary Brown, R-189, East Stroudsburg, $16,200
- Rep. Mike Carroll, D-118, Hughestown, $8,400, with satellite in Gilbert, $7,080
- Rep. Lynda Schlegel Culver, R-108, Sunbury, $19,500
- Rep. Neal Goodman, D-123, Mahanoy City, $9,600, with satellites in St. Clair and Ashland, $21,600
- Rep. Doyle Heffley, R-122, Albrightsville $10,800 with satellite in Lehighton, $8,562
- Rep. Sid Michaels Kavulich, D-114, Taylor $12,000 with satellite in Scott Twp., $7,800
- Rep. Jerry Knowles, R-124, Tamaqua, $10,200
- Rep. Sandra Major, R-111, Montrose, $7,800 with satellite in Tunkhannock, $5,700
- Rep. Kurt Masser, R-107, Elysburg, $21,000
- Rep. Gerald Mullery, R-119, Nanticoke, $13,100
- Rep. Phyllis Mundy, D-120, Kingston, $14,904
- Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-121, Wilkes-Barre $14,400
- Rep. Mike Peifer, D=139, Honesdale, $11,700
- Rep. Tina Pickett, R-110, Towanda, $8,400
- Rep. Mario Scavello, R-176, Mount Pocono $19,800 with satellite in Stroudsburg, $1,800
- Rep. Ken Smith, D-112, Dunmore, $12,000
- Rep. Ed Staback, D-115, Eynon, $7,800
- Rep. Mike Tobash, R-125, Schuylkill Haven, $19,800
- Rep. Tarah Toohil, R-116, Hazleton, $15,000