Apr 24, 2013 2 min read

HARRISBURG – Total spending by the General Assembly increased about $8 million last year, and its year-end surplus declined, according to an internal report released Wednesday.

Legislative spending was nearly $307 million in the year that ended in June, an $8 million increase, the Legislative Audit Advisory Commission said. The House spent $178 million, the Senate $96 million.

The largest legislative spending category was payroll and benefits, which cost the public $249 million last year.

The surplus fell to $140 million, a drop of about $43 million from the previous year. Lawmakers justify it as insurance against a potential budget standoff with the governor, and commission chairman Rep. Gordon Denlinger, R-Lancaster, said it’s currently about as small as it should go.

“We’re right at the edge of the number,” Denlinger said.

The reserve reached $215 million in 2006 but has been falling since. Total spending was $318 million three years ago, and $327 million in 2008-09.

The auditors suggest the House do away with the checkbooks controlled by senior members, arguing that spending should be funneled through a central system. They also say the House should consider standardizing leave policies, as the Senate has done.

The audit also addressed employees who make more than prescribed pay ranges.

Stephen Baloga, a partner with the firm that produced the report, said some legislative employees make more than the upper limit, but that the range is a guideline and the assembly’s leadership is able to grant pay increases above it.

Baloga said those waiver decisions should be memorialized.

“There’s no documentation that was in the file that would provide some sort of formality,” he said.

Denlinger said the audit cost about $185,000.