Gov. Ed Rendell officially created the Pennsylvania Stimulus Oversight Commission last week, a 13-member panel charged with overseeing the state's allocation of federal dollars within the stimulus plan.

Among the appointees are members of the state House and Senate, as well as federal lawmakers. Noticeably absent, though, is former Republican Rep. Phil English, who the Republican delegation in D.C. nominated to the panel. English's successor, Democrat Kathy Dahlkemper, was apparently upset about the nomination and word got through to Rendell that Democrats weren't happy, staffers say.

House Democratic Leader Todd Eachus suggested yesterday that Republican Tom Corbett take a cue from his counterpart in Virginia and consider resigning as attorney general if he runs for governor next year.

Last month, Virginia's head prosecutor, Bob McDonnell, stepped down to seek the state's top office, saying it wouldn't be fair to the taxpayers to keep one office while pursuing the other.

Corbett "will have to judge, when he actually announces his candidacy, whether he can balance the two, both from a political point of view and from the efficacy of taxpayers," Eachus (D., Luzerne) told the monthly luncheon of the Pennsylvania Press Club yesterday in Harrisburg.

But Eachus fell short of calling on Corbett to step down. Nor did Eachus accuse Corbett - as some Democrats have suggested - of partisanship in his 26-month-old corruption probe known as Bonusgate.

"The attorney general's got to proceed with his investigation the way he sees fit," said Eachus.

He may be the one bringing the criminal charges, but the pressure is now on State Attorney General Tom Corbett.

His announcement last week of fresh charges against a former top House Democrat has again raised questions about whether Corbett, a Republican, will ever indict members of his own party.

So far, his 26-month-old Bonusgate investigation has ensnared a dozen former and current House Democratic legislators and staffers, including Mike Veon, the former No. 2 Democrat in Harrisburg's lower chamber. The 12 are accused of a conspiracy to use taxpayer money and resources, including bonuses, to help advance Democratic political campaigns.

No Republican has been charged, although there have been clear signs for months that agents have turned their focus on members of the House GOP.

Corbett has said repeatedly that his investigators are not working on anyone's timetable and that when and if he determines a case is ready, he will file charges.

John Hanger, acting secretary of the state Department of Environmental Protection, and state Sen. Mary Jo White, R-Venango, are no strangers, having tangled on many occasions about environmental and energy issues.

It's expected they'll go at it again Wednesday when the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee that Ms. White chairs meets in Harrisburg to consider Gov. Ed Rendell's August nomination of Mr. Hanger for DEP secretary.

When Mr. Hanger was nominated seven months ago, Ms. White said she wouldn't support his nomination because he had accused her of being corrupt due to her ties to various extractive industries.

"She stated when he was nominated that she was disappointed with the governor's nomination and she has not changed her position," said Patrick Henderson, the committee's director.

"I would say she's not inclined to support the nomination but is holding the hearing to give an opportunity to publicly question the nominee."

Mr. Henderson said that during the last seven or eight years when Mr. Hanger was executive director of Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future, he testified before the committee and called her integrity and motives into question.

If you want power and fame, run for governor. But if you want wealth, be a professor, a bean counter or a turnpike czar.

At least 96 state employees are paid more than Gov. Ed Rendell, whose salary is $174,435. All together, at least 656 have salaries in excess of $150,000. At least 3,836 are paid more than $100,000 a year.

That's a big bill footed by taxpayers, and government watchdog groups say high salaries should be scrutinized carefully. The state employees' bosses, of course, say they earn every penny.

John C. Cavanaugh, chancellor of the State System of Higher Education, tops the list with a $327,500 salary. That's 7 1/2 times as much as the average Pennsylvanian makes in a year. Still, it's much less than the $558,378 that the state of Georgia pays the chancellor of its university system.

With a salary of $320,000, James Preston, executive director of the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, isn't far behind Mr. Cavanaugh.

Stephen M. Curtis, president of the Community College of Philadelphia, comes in third with compensation of $227,584, including a $37,500 housing and car allowance.

Other Pennsylvania state workers earning more than the governor include judges, university professors, seven investment officers for government employee retirement systems and two legislative aides, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette found in a review of salaries from dozens of state agencies that responded to right-to-know requests in February and March.

Gov. Ed Rendell lifted his state hiring freeze to place on his payroll ex-state Rep. Mike Veon's lobbying partner for $102,500 a year.

Rendell hired Colleen Kopp last week, the third high-profile exception he has made to the freeze he implemented in September. He hired defeated Democratic Rep. Dan Surra of Clearfield County for $95,000 a year to oversee a nature-tourism project, and last week agreed to pay Ken Snyder of Philadelphia $100,000 to tout the federal stimulus package. Snyder, a public relations man who consulted for Rendell in 2003, represented a nonprofit pillaged by convicted former Sen. Vincent Fumo.

Kopp is briefly mentioned in a grand jury report, released Wednesday, that resulted in new charges against Veon. She is not accused of wrongdoing and did not return phone calls or e-mails seeking comment.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission chairman fired by Gov. Ed Rendell can receive a maximum annual state pension of about $6,100.

The estimated figure is an Associated Press calculation based on information provided by the State Employees' Retirement System under a Right-to-Know Law request.

The part-time job paid $28,500 annually and Mitchell Rubin served on the commission for nearly 11 years.

Rendell ousted Rubin from the job on Monday citing "overwhelming" evidence that he accepted a no-work contract from a state senator for $150,000.

The contract was described in the recent corruption trial of former state Sen. Vincent Fumo of Philadelphia.

The House Democratic Caucus on Thursday canceled its contract with a consulting firm, fewer than 24 hours after the release of a stinging report by a statewide grand jury.

Delta Development, an economic development consultant and lobbying firm based in Mechanicsburg, received $1 million from a Beaver County nonprofit agency controlled by former state Rep. Mike Veon, D-Beaver Falls, for doing "little or no work," the grand jury said in a report issued Wednesday.

"After seeing the details of the grand jury report, we have terminated our contract with Delta Development effective immediately," said House Majority Leader Todd Eachus, D-Luzerne County.

Delta, a large contributor to Democrats' campaigns, hired Veon's brother Mark for $160,000 a year, the grand jury said. For years, Delta has had a separate contract with the House Democratic Caucus for $360,000 to $450,000 a year, records show. The firm helped prepare grant applications and find grant opportunities, a caucus spokesman said.

Lt. Gov. Joe Scarnati, a Republican, disagrees with Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat, over whether a better system to prove residency is needed for anyone getting public benefits such as Medicaid, cash assistance and unemployment compensation.

Mr. Scarnati, who is also the top Republican in the Senate, said yesterday he will try again with Senate Bill 9, which would require the Department of Public Welfare to positively establish that anyone getting these benefits is legally in the United States and has a permanent residence.

Mr. Scarnati said a recent audit by state Auditor General Jack Wagner found that at least 2 percent of those receiving property tax or rent rebates, welfare payments, Medicaid and jobless benefits aren't legally residing in Pennsylvania. Mr. Scarnati claimed that "tens of millions" could be improperly being paid out by the welfare department.

State Attorney General Tom Corbett said today he soon will make an announcement regarding a state grand jury's corruption investigation into the state Legislature.

We do have something coming up within a few days," Corbett told KYW/KDKA radio.

"We have something come up that's imminent that when people hear it they'll think it's Bonusgate but it's not," Corbett said. "That's about the only way I can put it."

Bonusgate refers to the first phase of Corbett's probe that resulted in the filing of criminal charges in July against 12 people with ties to the House Democratic Caucus. Many of the charges against former staffers and a former Democratic legislative leader were tied to allegations of using taxpayer-funded stipends to reward caucus employees who worked on campaigns or did political work.

Four state gambling regulators attended a September conference at a posh Rome hotel that cost their agency about $27,000 and included charges by at least one of them for the pool bar, laundry and limousine service.

The state Gaming Control Board members and a staffer took the trip with approval of Gov. Ed Rendell's office after Rendell imposed a ban on state travel, officials acknowledged Wednesday.

The five attended the International Association of Gaming Regulators conference at the Rome Cavalieri, where rooms cost more than $400 a night.

Board member Sanford Rivers of Churchill said he paid for his trip in advance and became concerned about it after Rendell imposed the travel ban last fall.

"Being the governor's appointee, the last thing I wanted to do was embarrass the governor," Rivers said. He said he called Greg Fajt, Rendell's chief of staff, who approved it. Rivers said the costs might seem high because of the value of the U.S. dollar in Italy.

Anytime PA legislators call another government entity "a sovereign nation" and "answerable to no one," you know it's bad. Our legislators really would know best what that's like...

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board came under fire yesterday from a group of state legislators irate over revelations that it spent thousands of dollars on travel, including a trip to Rome, in the midst of a worsening economy.

"The gaming board is operating like a sovereign nation answering to no one," said Rep. Mike Vereb (R., Montgomery). "They are spending money like a bunch of drunken sailors."

Vereb and 13 other representatives and senators held a Capitol news conference to assail the board on several fronts and called for the resignation of its chairwoman, Mary DiGiacomo Colins.

A board spokesman said the travel had been appropriate and stressed that the money had come from casino profits and not taxpayers. He also said Colins had no plans to step down.

Despite his call to drastically slash budgets to deal with a worsening recession, Gov. Rendell is paying $100,000 to a Philadelphia political strategist and media consultant to help him with publicity.

The administration has hired Ken Snyder on a monthly retainer of $9,090 between now and Jan. 31 for part-time work, or a minimum of 30 hours a week. Snyder will assist Rendell's Communications Office in the Capitol with media strategy, with a focus on helping provide information about the billions of dollars in federal stimulus aid coming to Pennsylvania.

Top administration officials yesterday defended the expenditure. They said it was necessary to explain to Pennsylvanians exactly what the stimulus money would pay for and how it could help them weather the economic downturn.

From the amazing John Micek:

Lawyers For House Democrats and former consultant Bill Chadwick have agreed to let a retired Dauphin County judge decide their dispute over the ownership of a Bonusgate-related court file.

Ex-Judge G. Thomas Miller will hear the dispute, a spokesman for Majority Leader Todd Eachus, D-Luzerne, said this afternoon. Last week, Judge Lawrence F. Clark recommended that the warring sides allow a special master to hear the case.

Republican Rep. Mike Turzai "must be nuts" for seeking a state tax cut when the state needs more revenue, Gov. Ed Rendell said Tuesday.

Turzai of Bradford Woods yesterday suggested reducing the state's 3.07 percent personal income tax to 2.99 percent, and more deeply cut the Department of Community and Economic Development's budget than Rendell proposed in February.

"It's ludicrous," said Rendell. He said it might mean a $20 tax break for most people.

With the state facing a $2.6 billion deficit and people losing jobs during the recession, the last thing Pennsylvania needs is Turzai's plan, Rendell said. "It's about creating more jobs and putting more money back into the economy," he said.

Turzai, the minority whip, fired back: "I think the governor is nuts for having overspent the last six years. He increased spending by 40 percent while the inflation rate increased 20 percent. He's absolutely nuts for mortgaging the future of our kids and grandchildren. He's borrowed over $6 billion that we will pay back to the tune of $10 billion, all to satisfy his insatiable appetite (for spending)."

A newly disclosed e-mail from a high-ranking Pennsylvania House Democrat acknowledges an employee's thanks for a bonus that she described as a reward for campaign efforts.

The e-mail exchange between Rep. Bill DeWeese and caucus research analyst Karen E. Steiner is notable because DeWeese has consistently maintained he was unaware that any bonuses had been given out for campaigning.

''I can't thank you enough for the bonus for campaigning,'' Steiner wrote in December 2004 to

DeWeese, at a time when he was the Democrats' floor leader. ''I am speechless, as most of us are.''

DeWeese, D-Greene, replied in computer lingo: ''UR welcome.''

An e-mail provided to defense attorneys in the so-called Bonusgate case might contradict former House Democratic Leader Bill DeWeese's longstanding claim that he knew nothing about state-paid bonuses for campaign work.

In December 2004, an e-mail written by legislative research analyst Karen Steiner thanked DeWeese, D-Greene County, and then-House Democratic Whip Mike Veon of Beaver Falls for a "bonus for campaigning." DeWeese responded with "U R welcome," copies of the exchange obtained by the Tribune-Review show.

Prosecutors provided the e-mail to defense attorney Bryan Walk, who represents former House Democrat staffer Brett Cott on charges of theft and conflict of interest.

Steiner could not be reached for comment. The amount of the bonus she received in December 2004 could not be immediately determined.

The e-mail is among 25,000 Walk has received from Attorney General Tom Corbett's office, which is prosecuting the case.

"It's my understanding that other defense attorneys also received this information," Cott said Sunday night.

A spokesman said DeWeese did not recall the e-mail.

"Given the volume of e-mail that comes to him and given that some of it is handled by staff, Bill does not recall this e-mail," said spokesman Tom Andrews. "At the time responding kindly to one of many 'thank yous' for Christmas bonuses would have been a routine matter."

Could the 17th time be the charm?

Every year since 1992, state Sen. Stewart Greenleaf has introduced a keg-registration bill.

This year, the proposal has gotten farther than it ever has, said Greenleaf, a Republican who represents Montgomery and Bucks counties. On Wednesday, the Senate's Law and Justice Committee sent it to the full Senate for consideration.

"We have a better chance now," Greenleaf said.

Greenleaf said he believes the bill would curtail underage and binge drinking. If police can track a keg to the purchaser, adults would be less likely to buy one and turn it over to minors, he said.

Beer trade associations have successfully battled keg-registration proposals for years, and Greenleaf's latest effort is no exception.

"I think we should stick to the real solutions: educating kids, raising awareness and enforcing some of the laws we already have on the books," said Jay D. Wiederhold, president of the Pennsylvania Beer Wholesalers Association in Harrisburg.

Senate Bill 44 would require each purchaser to complete a numbered form listing his or her name and address. The beer distributor would attach an identification tag to the keg that corresponds to the numbered form. Greenleaf's office could not provide the cost of creating this system.

A bill that would extend anti-discrimination protections to include sexual orientation is heading to the Pennsylvania House floor after a party-line committee vote.

The State Government Committee approved the bill Wednesday.

It would amend the state Human Relations Act to extend protections against bias in housing, employment, credit or public accommodations.

In addition to sexual orientation, it also would extend protections to gender identity or expression.

All 12 Democrats voted for the bill, while all 11 Republicans were against it.

Supporters say it has wide support among the people of Pennsylvania, while opponents worry that it will infringe on the religious beliefs of others.

In Gov. Rendell's mind, it was a very simple request.

In these tough economic times, he wanted every corner of state government, including the courts and the legislature, to cut 4.25 percent from their budgets to help cover a $2.3 billion shortfall this year.

He made the request in October. Yet five months later, the governor says he has heard back from only a single entity: House Democrats.

"It's mind-boggling to me," an exasperated Rendell said in an interview this week. "I'm amazed that given the depth of this economic crisis, we appear to be stonewalled by everyone."

Many state agencies, including the courts, the Auditor General's Office, and the Attorney General's Office, don't see it that way.

They say they've made deep cuts in the last few months and are operating on shoestring budgets, possibly setting the stage for a showdown with the administration.

Gov. Ed Rendell called for an investigation of a Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board contract awarded to a top PLCB manager's husband, even as more details surfaced questioning the contract bidding process, including suspicions from competing firms that the award was "fishy" and seemed like an inside job.

The PLCB recently awarded a $173,000 contract to Solutions 21, a West End consulting firm whose president is married to a state store system regional manager. PLCB officials said the process was legitimate, but it led to calls from state legislators for an explanation, and Mr. Rendell yesterday agreed.

A state lawmaker today will introduce legislation to levy sales tax on political advertising, but a prominent campaign consultant said that's akin to taxing freedom of speech.

Television or radio ads by political candidates would be subject to the 6 percent tax, said Rep. Anthony DeLuca, D-Penn Hills.

He would use the estimated $6.6 million in revenue to help pay for adultBasic health care, state subsidized medical insurance for low-income workers.

The tax would apply to presidential candidates, those seeking statewide offices, and candidates for the General Assembly.

A former lawyer for state House Democrats who was paid $1.3 million by taxpayers won't give caucus leaders a file on a public corruption investigation.

Bill Chadwick, who represented the caucus as a legislative bonus scandal unfolded, said Tuesday that House Majority Whip Bill DeWeese instructed him not to provide the file to the caucus. Chadwick represented the caucus and DeWeese while DeWeese was majority leader through 2007 and 2008.

DeWeese of Greene County asserted attorney-client privilege, said Chadwick, a former state inspector general. "I am ethically bound to honor a client's directions," he said.

"The taxpayers paid for Mr. Chadwick's services," House Majority Leader Todd Eachus, D-Luzerne County, countered in an interview.

Eachus late Monday filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Democratic Caucus, asking a judge to order Chadwick to turn over the file.

Arguing that Pennsylvania families "need help now" to weather the recession, Gov. Rendell yesterday said he would redirect millions of dollars for health insurance, mortgage assistance, home-heating assistance, and job-counseling programs.

Calling it "emergency economic relief," the governor said he would immediately offer coverage to an additional 16,000 people now on a waiting list for the state-subsidized health-insurance program for lower-income adults. More than 200,000 residents are on the adultBasic waiting list now - 25,000 of them added just last month.

Rendell said he also would move $5 million into an existing fund that helps recently unemployed residents pay their mortgage while looking for jobs. The money will help an additional 550 families, the governor said.

The governor said he was taking the actions by executive order after job losses continued to mount, adding that the rate in some counties had reached double digits. Pennsylvania's unemployment rate is 7 percent.

The head of the fundraising arm of Pennsylvania's student aid agency has been fired in a dispute over his travel expenses.

The board of the Pennsylvania Higher Education Foundation voted unanimously to terminate Michael Hershock from his $150,000-a-year job as its president and CEO, citing a "willful breach of the president's fiduciary duty involving personal profits."

Hershock's lawyer, Walter Cohen, accused the board of "totally disregarding" the terms of his client's contract, but said he was unsure whether they would pursue legal action challenging Monday's firing.

Pennsylvania's public schools could get $437 million more than they were expecting under Gov. Ed Rendell's proposed budget and the four state-related universities could bank an additional $42 million, thanks to the federal stimulus money headed this way.

Rendell announced Tuesday he plans to use $418 million of the stimulus money to boost the state's basic education subsidy to $5.98 billion in the next fiscal year. The basic education subsidy funds public school operations and instruction.

Rendell originally proposed increasing the subsidy by $300 million from state funds. Now that $300 million would be available to plug other budget gaps.

The governor is also proposing $319 million of stimulus money for school districts to spend on ''other academic investments'' and keeping property taxes down. Districts could spend that portion on modernizing, renovating or repairing their schools, on basic or special education, career and technical education, or adult and family literacy programs, said Education Department spokesman Michael Race.