Editorial: Without gift ban, Harrisburg is the Wild West

When an elected official receives something, there are different ways to look at it.

It might be a completely legal donation. These follow election laws and are documented accordingly. If you want to know if Person X donated to Politician Y, there is a database to search to find an answer.

It might be a bribe. These are definitely not legal, and you find out about them only after someone is indicted.

And then there are gifts.

If you think “gift” could be a synonym for donation or bribe, you’re not wrong. The dictionary agrees with you.

That’s why it is a problem that Pennsylvania does not have strict lanes drawn. Instead, the world of gifts to officials remains the Wild West — a place where anything that isn’t a donation or an out-and-out bribe falls in a murky and undefined area without laws.

And so it is somehow fitting that the Legislature didn’t vote on a gift ban this year but a number of lawmakers, including House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre, were able to make time for something else: a trip to Wyoming courtesy of Georgia-based skill game company Pace-O-Matic.

A Spotlight PA investigation shows they took in the jam-packed activities at Cheyenne Frontier Days, with an average cost of $1,700 for travel, hotel, concert and rodeo tickets, and food. Pace-O-Matic brought in 600 guests, including five Pennsylvania lawmakers, who also had an opportunity to meet Wyoming lawmakers about gaming issues.

Benninghoff’s office said he paid his own way, as did state Rep. Greg Rothman, R-Cumberland. State Rep. Sue Helm, R-Dauphin, said the company paid but the trip wasn’t “lavish.” State Rep. Marci Mustello, R-Butler, said she paid her own way and hasn’t been reimbursed, according to Spotlight PA. State Rep. Jeffrey Wheeland, R-Lycoming, didn’t respond.

This is exactly why hard-and-fast rules as to gifts are needed. It isn’t just about who pays for what. It’s so all lawmakers are on the same footing.

If this trip were completely work-related and acceptable, why should Helm receive it for free when other officials paid out of pocket? If it’s OK for one, it should be OK for all. If it’s not, they all should pay for it.

Instead, with no rules, the legislators are left to decide what would fly with their own constituents rather than what is acceptable for the state as a whole.

It is long past time the Legislature buckle down and address this issue proactively and completely rather than addressing gifts individually if someone finds out about them.