FOX 29's Steve Keeley reports the latest details. HARRISBURG, Pa. - It takes hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars a year for the Pennsylvania General Assembly to maintain one of the country's largest legislative staffs, a small army that needs food, shelter, transportation, office supplies and modern electronics.
An Associated Press review of invoices and more than 6,000 pages of spending line items by the state’s legislative branch last year found lawmakers often use the latitude their own rules provide to decide what to buy and from whom.
There are limits: Expenditures must somehow relate to legislative business, and each member has an annual spending cap. The Senate does some group purchasing, including for office supplies.