State Sen. Joseph Conti, the Bucks County Republican who came under fire for initially saying he would not return the legislative pay raise because he spent the money on a water heater, has announced he will not seek another term.

With Rep. James E. Shaner (D., Fayette) announcing yesterday he will not run, the number of legislators who will not seek reelection stands at 20 - including eight from the Philadelphia region.

And there still may be more as the deadline for candidates to file for the election is March 7.

Conti, who has been a senator since November 1997 and served four years in the House, said in a statement Monday that he wanted to explore "new challenges" and would continue lecturing at the University of Pennsylvania's Fels Institute of Government. He would not comment on whether the pay-raise issue was a factor in his decision.

"Sometimes you realize that it's time to move on," he said during a brief interview yesterday in his Senate offices in Harrisburg. "Sometimes it's just time to go."