When I served as the publisher of a daily newspaper in New York state, I functioned as the CEO, and I had to fully account for my travel and other expenses with appropriate documentation.

I submitted them to a regional vice president once a month. Each expense had to be accompanied by a date, a justification for the expense as it pertained to its relationship to my job and a corroborating paid receipt that was properly itemized, dated and verified.

This type of verification is standard in the private sector, but it is even more important when it comes to our elected and appointed public officials. Every legislator, official and public employee who spends our money needs to be able to account for these expenditures.

Our legislators who travel more than 50 miles from their home on legislative business are entitled to a per diem (an allowance or payment for each day), which in 2020 was $178. Here’s the rub, though, legislators don’t have to provide receipts, which is a really gaping accounting loophole.

By comparison, Pennsylvania legislators are among the top 10 when it comes to generous per diem rates. Alaska pays the most at $287 a day, followed by Texas, $221; Virginia, $210; California, $206; New Mexico, $192; Indiana, $184; and North Dakota, $181.

Unlike Congress, whose members routinely post online expenses, our state legislators are not under stricter guidelines to account for their expenses.

Sensitive to criticism because of columns such as mine, a few legislators go the extra mile and post expenses on their websites, but it’s hit or miss and almost next to impossible to get a true feel for the overall expenditures picture which costs us taxpayers millions of dollars a year.

There have been periodic attempts to force members of the General Assembly to account for their expenses using best accounting practices, but nothing ever came of them.

More than 10 years ago, an investigating grand jury looking into legislators’ misuse of public funds recommended that the General Assembly make profound changes to the way it handles and reports its spending.

It advised eliminating partisan caucuses, which we taxpayers pay for, require receipts for reimbursement for lodging and food, and reducing the number of district offices to one for each of the 253 legislators - 203 in the House and 50 in the Senate. Nothing ever came of it either.

In collaboration with Temple University, Spotlight PA, a nonpartisan investigative journalism organization that looks into Pennsylvania government issues, reports that “despite the coronavirus pandemic and a lengthy statewide shutdown that reduced legislative session drastically, Pennsylvania state lawmakers still banked hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional taxpayer money for meals and lodging while on official business through the per diem system.”

According to the Spotlight PA investigation, of the 144 legislators who claimed payments during the pandemic, 14 are from the five-county Times News area. Several others, including Sen. Dave Argall, R-Schuylkill; Sen. John Yudichak, I-Carbon; Rep. Jerry Knowles, R-Schuylkill-Carbon; Rep. Zach Mako, R-Northampton-Lehigh; Joe Emrick, R-Northampton; and Rep. Rosemary Brown, R-Monroe, did not claim any payments, according to the report.

Sen. Pat Browne, R-Lehigh, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, collected the sixth most among the 144 at $16,157. The highest was collected by Mark Longietti, D-Mercer, $24,115.

The other local legislators who received per diem payments were: 20th, Rep. Jack Rader, R-Monroe, $9,279; 30th, Rep. Peter Schweyer, D-Lehigh, $8,061; 42nd, Rep. Doyle Heffley, D-Carbon, $6,411; 50th, Jeanne McNeill, D-Lehigh, $5,764; 57th, Rep. Marcia Hahn, R-Northampton, $5,764; 82nd, Sen. Mario Scavello, R-Monroe-Northampton, $3,041; 91st, Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-Northampton-Lehigh, $2,454; 95th, Rep. Mike Schlossberg, D-Lehigh, $2,325; 97th, Maureen Madden, D-Monroe, $2,311; 113th, Rep. Bob Freeman, D-Northampton, $1,403; 118th, Gary Day, R-Lehigh, $1,080; 141st, Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Lehigh, $107; and 142nd, Rep. Steve Samuelson, D-Northampton, $61.

Jerry Knowles said he does not accept per diems, preferring instead to turn in receipts for actual expenses, such as the infrequent times he stays overnight in Harrisburg. He also said he rarely turns in food expenses associated with legislative business, rationalizing that he has to eat anyway. “So why should I charge the taxpayers? he asked. Good thinking.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.