Despite 'excessive' waste foun

HARRISBURG -- In 2001 and 2002, state employees went on a shopping spree at taxpayers' expense: $58,518 spent on catering, $4,014 at beer and liquor stores, watches for retirees that cost $150 each, 1,296 Hershey candy bars for $428, and dozens of other promotional items from sports bags to fly swatters.

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All of this occurred at PennDOT, where one employee bought some things for home: food, toiletry items, prescription drugs and basic and premium TV service, according to an audit by former state Auditor General Robert P. Casey Jr., now a Democratic U.S. senator.

The common thread to the purchases is that employees made them with state purchasing or debit cards. The cards are back in the news as a cost-saving method touted last week by House Republicans.

Despite the "abusive" and "excessive" spending tagged in the January 2004 audit, it would be a mistake to write off an expansion of the cards as a way to raise millions for state government, Rep. John Bear, R-Lancaster, the leading proponent, said Monday.

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For the most part, the problem with the expenditures examined in the audit was authorization by state supervisors, not the method of payment, Bear said. Moreover, there are electronic controls that, if utilized, would enable supervisors to see each payout shortly after it's made, he said.

Transportation Secretary Allen Biehler, newly appointed by Rendell in early 2004, moved promptly to establish tighter controls over the cards, the audit said.

Bear, a former management consultant, said the state could save $62 million by moving 20 percent of all purchases through debit cards because the state gets a bonus from the debit card company for each dollar spent. The state uses debit cards for less than 1 percent of transactions, he said.

Republicans offered the idea as one alternative to raising taxes and cutting spending. Pennsylvania faces a $1 billion deficit.

Gary Tuma, spokesman for Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell, said the administration is discussing with state Treasury officials the possibility of increasing use of purchasing cards. Tuma had warned it was necessary to "build in controls" but said yesterday he wasn't specifically referring to the PennDOT audit when he spoke of the need for controls.

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However, Tuma said, that is the "type of concern" to which he referred.

"It is important to strike a balance between the benefits of the cards and guarding against the potential for abuse," Tuma said.

The expenditures examined in Casey's audit occurred in PennDOT under Republican Gov. Mark Schweiker.

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