The $248,000 secret
Taxpayer-funded harassment payouts must end
Regardless of whether state Rep. Thomas Caltagirone is guilty of sexual harassment, House Democrats showed appallingly bad judgment by paying $248,000 in a secret deal to settle the allegations against him. Never again should tax dollars be used for such purposes. The case shows the need to shed more light on murky legislative spending that has been the source of controversy before.
Mr. Caltagirone, D-Berks, has denied the allegations that led to the 2015 payout to a longtime legislative staffer. The 75-year-old legislator, who’s been in office for 40 years, said he wanted to defend himself but lawyers urged a settlement.
His explanation isn’t the only one taxpayers need to hear. House Democratic Leader Frank Dermody, DOakmont, must answer for why the caucus not only authorized the spending but also allowed the agreement to include confidentiality language intended to keep the public in the dark. So far, he’s refused, citing the confidentiality language.
Mr. Dermody should have realized that the use of taxpayer money for a secret settlement was outrageous and put a halt to it. Leaders are supposed to lead. His refusal to explain himself helps to perpetuate Harrisburg’s reputation as a place where lawmakers look out for each other but care little about the people they represent.
The payout, first reported Tuesday by Angela Couloumbis of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Liz Navratil of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, wasn’t just a secret to taxpayers. Rep. Leanne Krueger-Braneky, D-Delaware, joined the House in 2015 but said she only learned about the settlement from news reports. Gov. Tom Wolf, who took office in 2015, also learned about it from the media.
Nor, it turns out, was the payout in the Caltagirone case the first of its kind. House Democrats also spent $30,000 in 2013 to resolve a sexual harassment case against former Rep. Jewell Williams, now the sheriff of Philadelphia.
If not illegal, the use of taxpayer money to make sexual harassment cases disappear is unethical and — given the state’s chronic financial worries — indefensible. The settlement in Mr. Caltagirone’s case is even more galling because he faced similar accusations once before. A grand jury in 1994 investigated claims that he harassed a previous worker, even brandishing a gun at her at one point. Mr. Caltagirone denied wrongdoing then, too. Although the grand jury concluded there was “more than enough evidence” to prosecute the lawmaker, two state attorneys general declined to file charges.
Ms. Krueger-Braneky is sponsoring legislation to preclude confidentiality clauses in legislative harassment cases and to prohibit the use of taxpayer money in settlements. Mr. Wolf also has taken steps to prevent taxpayer money from being used in this fashion again
House and Senate leaders should accept the assistance of state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, who on Wednesday offered to review their sexual harassment policies and audit legislative accounts. Behind-the-scenes spending also was at the root of the wide-rangingBonusgate scandal about a decade ago, so transparency in legislativefinances is sorely needed.
Taxpayers also need to know more about the work of legislative ethics committees, long derided for secrecy and ineffectiveness. If the House Ethics Committee substantiated a complaint against Mr. Caltagirone, taxpayers should get the details.
Earlier last week, The Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News reported that Sen. Daylin Leach, DMontgomery, also has been accused of inappropriate sexual talk and touching. When the allegations came to light, he announced that he would be “taking a step back” from his campaign for Congress. There’s no indication Senate Democrats made any payouts to address those allegations.
It was almost inevitable that the wave of sexual harassment scandals sweeping Congress, the film industry and other walks of life also would touch the state capital, never a bastion of morality. Taxpayers deserve a tougher stance on sexual harassment, better use of public money and less secrecy.