PENNSYLVANIA — Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman is in the news again, this time for doing the bare minimum to increase transparency in Harrisburg — only after being exposed in a series of reports by Spotlight PA for lying about his taxpayer-funded expenses.
As Spotlight PA reported in May:
“The salary displayed on Corman’s site — $123,644.82 — is off by $17,374, not reflecting years of built-in cost-of-living increases and a hefty raise when his peers elevated him from majority leader to the chamber’s top elected position in December. Monthly rents for his district offices, in Bellefonte and Lewistown, have also both modestly increased since he posted them as $2,554 and $733, respectively. Other details of his spending are scarce, as he points constituents to Pennsylvania’s open records law to find out more.”
The new measures Corman announced only do the bare minimum and fail to tackle larger issues of transparency including the ability of legislators to take unlimited gifts under $250 with no reporting.
“Let’s tell it like it is: Corman got caught in a lie by the press and is trying to worm out of it with half-measures,” said Pennsylvania Democratic Party spokesman Brendan Welch. “He’s not a champion for transparency, he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar and wants you to forget about it.”
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