Pa. AG investigates legality of legislative bonuses

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — State Attorney General Tom Corbett’s office will investigate whether legislative leaders broke the law in awarding $3.7 million in bonuses to staff members during the past two years, a spokesman said Wednesday.

Corbett, a Republican, decided to investigate after reviewing state ethics laws and information about the bonuses that has been made public in the past two weeks, said the spokesman, Kevin Harley.

Harley declined to say whether the agency’s public corruption unit intends to subpoena legislators as part of its probe. He also would not speculate on how long it might take.

“We’ll follow the evidence where it leads,” he said.

At issue is whether the bonuses were illegal rewards for political work done during last year’s legislative elections, in which Democrats seized control of the House of Representatives, or were rewards for hard work on legislative business, as leaders have maintained.