I'm not so sure that would change the outcome.
Lawmaker acknowledges travel reimbursement error
- By Kyle Wind
- Apr 8, 2016 Updated Apr 17, 2020
- Comments
JAKE DANNA STEVENS / TIMES-SHAMROCK Rep. Frank Farina, center, holds a press conference Friday outside the Lackawanna County Courthouse in Scranton.
State Rep. Frank Farina said he made a mistake when he billed the state for a $197 travel reimbursement for a trip to Penn State University during which he attended a football game.
"I am here today to acknowledge an error in judgment I made, for which I accept full responsibility," the Jessup Democrat said in a statement during a press conference at Lackawanna County Courthouse. "I intend to be diligent from this point forward about making sure my expense report is something any responsible taxpayer would understand as appropriate for the conduct of state business."
Farina was responding to a WNEP-TV report about state lawmakers accepting free tickets to Nittany Lions games. The station reported Farina was the only one it surveyed from the region that put in for a travel reimbursement for the trip — to cover mileage for his 343-mile round trip to Beaver Stadium.
"I made a faulty assumption that since Penn State is a state university, with the requisite oversight by the General Assembly, of which I am a member, that such a trip would be an acceptable reimbursement," Farina said. "Unlike most of my colleagues in the House, I have a Penn State campus in my district."
Farina said he would immediately reimburse the state for the September mileage and that he has become a co-sponsor on gift ban legislation.
Farina did not take questions after reading a statement on Friday and efforts to reach him later in the day were unsuccessful.
But he appeared to be referring to legislation proposed by state Rep. Tina Davis, D-Bucks. Her bill was in flux Friday, with the most recent version banning legislators from accepting gifts valued at more than $25 in a calendar year.
Penn State does not sell tickets to the general public for the president's box — where the college president and top college officials watch the game from — but the college estimates their value at $69 each.
"We invite every state legislator to one home football game per year, and we closely follow state laws and regulations in reporting these gifts and expenditures," the college said in a prepared statement. "We have found this to be an effective way to not only show legislators the University Park campus and the economic influence of the university and its athletics program, but to also build relationships and a better understanding of Penn State's overall impact."
Aside from watching games, what lawmakers typically do on campus varies widely, university spokesman Ben Manning said.
Many legislators also tour the campus, look at specific programs and time their visits with other events, Manning said. He was initially unable to estimate how many lawmakers typically accept the invitation.
Barry Kauffman, executive director of the good government group Common Cause Pennsylvania, wanted more information about what exactly Farina did during the trip.
"If it was purely a pleasure trip, he should not have charged the state," Kauffman said. "If he was doing genuine state business there ... then you can make the case it was state business, and he was entitled to state reimbursement."
The Citizens' Voice last year analyzed the state legislature's travel expenses, finding lawmakers spent $1.8 million on trips to attend committee hearings and conferences, research bills, meet constituents and participate in sessions in Harrisburg in 2014.
In the House, representatives sought reimbursements for the full year ranging from $40 to $29,619. The median annual total was $5,017.
Farina's travel spending totaled $9,089 following a year during which he sat on two committees that went on field trips — Tourism and Recreational Development and Game and Fisheries.
Some of his expenses included $274 on a trip with a tourism panel visiting attractions in Doylestown, including the James A. Michener Art Museum and Mercer Museum, and $377 while attending a lecture and field trip on the state's elk herd sponsored by the game committee.
Two Democratic candidates, Throop Borough Council President Thomas Lukasewicz and former state Rep. Kevin Haggerty of Dunmore, are challenging Farina in the April 26 primary for his seat in the 112th district.
Lukasewicz declined to address Farina's trip specifically beyond saying the voters will decide how important it is to them. But he said he would support a ban on all gifts to state lawmakers regardless of value.
Haggerty could not be reached for comment Friday. Haggerty's travel spending in 2014, his last year in office, totaled $4,501.
Archbald resident Ernest Lemoncelli, who is running unopposed for the Republican nomination in the race, also expressed support for a gift ban. Lemoncelli attended Farina's press conference to listen.
"I think it's the minimum he could have done to resolve it," Lemoncelli said afterward. "The biggest problem is the mindset that he has to try to get away with a $200 charge when in fact it wasn't reasonable by any means. Anyone would know that a free football game is not where you're going to learn about higher education. And he went to Penn State, so if he didn't learn about it then, I don't think one day at a game is going to help much."
Lawmaker acknowledges travel reimbursement error
State Rep. Frank Farina said he made a mistake when he billed the state for a $197 travel reimbursement for a trip to Penn State University during which he attendedwww.citizensvoice.com
Oh, I dunno. Given the larger holes in PA's budget going forward, I think that Harrisburg will be less inclined to be generous. Regardless, this episode will provide someone an opportunity to grab a headline. So whether this was a good or bad decision, it was tone deaf.
