State Sen. Pat Browne cashed in $19,833.75 in food and lodging reimbursements for official business in Harrisburg from Jan. 1, 1016, to Dec. 31, 2016, records obtained by lehighvalleylive.com through the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law show.
The Lehigh Valley Republican collected by far the largest amount of any Pennsylvania senator last year.
He makes no apologies for it. He points to his position in the Senate’s leadership as a reason for him outspending other senators. He in part blames Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf for compelling him to devote so much of his time out of his district and in the state Capitol.
Browne, who lives in Allentown, says his role as majority chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee put him in the demanding position of developing alternatives to Wolf’s “record-level tax increase proposals.”
“I have been mandated to a level of professional commitment in Harrisburg far beyond my past service and more than a typical Senate members’ schedule,” Browne said in a two-page statement sent to lehighvalleylive.com following an inquiry about his 2016 expenses.
Read state Sen. Pat Browne’s full response
State Sen. Lisa Boscola. (lehighvalleylive.com file photo)
Twenty-three out of 50 senators collected food and lodging expenses last year. Among them was fellow Lehigh Valley lawmaker, Democratic state Sen. Lisa Boscola. Records show she collected $10,238.50.
The senator who was second to Browne in total expenses in 2016 was state Sen. John Wozniak, who collected $14,567.25. Wozniak, a Democrat who represented Cambria County in western Pennsylvania, retired at the end of last year.
That fewer than half the state’s senators collected for food and lodging expenses last year isn’t necessarily a result of fiscal constraint by those who didn’t collect.
The rules on food and lodging expenses dictate that only state lawmakers who live more than 50 miles from the state Capitol are entitled to collect. And because senators must live in the districts they serve, moving closer to commute to Harrisburg instead of staying overnight there isn’t an option.
Browne’s home in Allentown is about 75 miles away from Harrisburg. The drive to the state Capitol along Interstates 78 and 81 usually takes about 90 minutes, give or take a few minutes and depending on traffic.
Could he commute day to day? Perhaps, but Browne, pointing to his appropriations committee chairmanship, maintains that the number of hours he’s working in Harrisburg make overnight stays inevitable.
“This increased responsibility and professional commitment in Harrisburg – often three days a week, 15 hours a day – has increased the level of out-of-pocket expenses that I have incurred for lodging and meals as compared to past years,” says Browne, whose 2016 salary of $115,938 is more than that of other senators because of the leadership role.
Browne put in for 104 days of overnight accommodations and meals in 2016; he had more than three dozen additional per diem payouts for meals alone, records show.
See the records of Browne’s 2016 food and lodging expenses
As for specifics on food and lodging expenditures, senators who qualify to collect don’t have to disclose any of that.
The reimbursement is made in the form of a per diem. The rate of that per diem is set by the federal government and is based on cost-of-living in a certain area. For the Harrisburg area, it was $175 a day for most of 2016. There are also per diem rates set by the feds for meals alone.
Given this system, senators could theoretically eat cheap, stay with a friend and pocket the money without anyone knowing. That is what concerns those advocating that lawmakers switch to a system where they provide receipts for reimbursement.
One of those advocates is Eric Epstein. He runs a blog called Rock the Capitol and has long fought for government reform in Harrisburg.
Epstein says he’s not at all opposed to lawmakers submitting expenses for meals and lodging while on official business, but the current system is vulnerable to abuse because receipts aren’t required.
“Essentially, they’re an unregulated perk and a tax-free source of income,” Epstein says of the per diems.
Altogether, the 23 senators who collected per diems in 2016 cost Pennsylvania taxpayers $185,022.50, according to lehighvalleylive.com’s analysis of state records.
Last year, the Senate signed off on a “budget that avoided personal income and sales tax increases by relying heavily on new revenue from a gambling expansion, new liquor permits and increased tobacco taxes, among other things,” according to a report on our sister website, pennlive.com.
The state, however, is still facing a substantial deficit this year.
Per diem payments to state Sen. Pat Browne in 2016 on Scribd
State Sen. Pat Browne’s response to lehighvalleylive.com on Scribd
Nick Falsone may be reached at nfalsone@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickfalsone. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
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