Ronald Tomalis was nominated by Governor Tom Corbett to be the Secretary of Education on January 18, 2011. On May 31, 2013, Governor Tom Corbett announced that Mr. Tomalis would leave his post as Secretary of Education to become Special Adviser to the Governor on Higher Education. Mr. Tomalis served an additional 15 months as an adviser to the Governor, which allows him to exploit the footprint rule and increase his annual annuity. (SERS Response to Eric Epstein and Gene Stilp, August 25, 2014.)
At issue is the absence of demonstrable work products that would justify allowing Mr. Tomalis to qualify for a pension bounce. Ironically, there was no problem when it came to his employer supplying pension data. According to the State Employee Retirement System, “It is important to note in the case of Mr. Tomalis, the hours and earnings reported to us in the past 15 months were consistent with those reported to us for the Secretary of Education and other executive level staff.” (SERS Response to Eric Epstein and Gene Stilp, August 25, 2014.)
If Mr. Tomalis can show up to collect a pension, he can end this controversy simply by coming forward and sharing his work products.
A parking pass doesn’t cut it. When did the Governor and the legislature announce policies that authorize card swipe records as a means to measure an employee’s performance? If this is the case, how should we measure the legislature’s performance when they are out of town for the summer, but their parking spaces are full?
This argument defies logic.
• Does flying regularly make me a pilot?
• Do daily ATM transactions make me a banker?
• Does buying gas make me an oil company executive?
All of these routine activities are available for review, documented electronically, stored in a data base and verifiable. Why can we document my frequent flyer miles, review my finances, monitor my gas points and track my purchases, yet we are unable to produce work products for Ron Tomalis?
Mr. Tomalis is a microcosm of a bigger problem: How many contracted employees, ghost employees or hidden-from-view employees show up to work, but provide little to no production or value? This is a nonpartisan disease that afflicts all administrations and both parties.
The House of Representatives has eleven session days and the Senate has ten session days to hold hearings before they go on another extended break. At a minimum, the Education Committees should vote in public on whether or not to hold hearings.
This issue is too important to be stonewalled by any one politician.
The charter Reform Caucus members who serve on the Education Committees should be demanding an open and transparent process to examine these issues. After all, it was the co-chairman of the Reform Caucus – Rep. Bryan Cutler (R-Lancaster) – who authored legislation to restructure appointments by the governor, and base them on merit rather than political favors.
There are several proactive initiatives the Auditor General and legislature can take to stop the practice of creating jobs and filling positions with cronies, defeated and retiring legislators, family members, ghost employees, pension jackers and former executive branch appointees.
• Eliminate benefits for contracted employees. This action would require the Legislature to expand and strengthen
§ 1102, Definitions under Chapter 11, “Ethics Standards and Financial Disclosures.”
“Contract.” An agreement or arrangement for the acquisition, use or disposal by the Commonwealth or a political subdivision of consulting or other services or of supplies, materials, equipment, land or other personal or real property. The term shall not mean an agreement or arrangement between the State or political subdivision as one party and a public official or public employee as the other party, concerning his expense, reimbursement, salary, wage, retirement or other benefit, tenure or other matters in consideration of his current public employment with the Commonwealth or a political subdivision.
“State consultant.” A person who, as an independent contractor, performs professional, scientific, technical or advisory service for an agency of this Commonwealth, and who receives a fee, honorarium or similar compensation for such services. A State consultant is not an executive-level employee.
• Repeal the footprint rule.
The loophole provides that “…persons returning from a break in service are granted the higher of the benefit available under prior service or new service. For example, a State employee who worked for ten years in the 1980s (accruing 2% per year of service) leaves and returns to State service in 2011. After three years of additional service, that employee is granted the Act 9 accrual rate of 2.5% for service before and after the break. This process was not repealed by Act 120, so it remains available to employees who return from a break in service after 2010.” (1)
• Require and enforce a one year time out that would preclude
former legislators and former Gubernatorial appointees from serving in their former chamber or department in any capacity.
This action would require the Legislature to expand and strengthen
§ 1103, Restricted activities under Chapter 11, “Ethics Standards and Financial Disclosures”.
g) Former official or employee.–No former public official or public employee shall represent a person, with promised or actual compensation, on any matter before the governmental body with which he has been associated for one year after he leaves that body.
(i) Former executive-level employee.–No former executive-level State employee may for a period of two years from the time that he terminates employment with this Commonwealth be employed by, receive compensation from, assist or act in a representative capacity for a business or corporation that he actively participated in recruiting to this Commonwealth or that he actively participated in inducing to open a new plant, facility or branch in this Commonwealth or that he actively participated in inducing to expand an existent plant or facility within this Commonwealth, provided that the above prohibition shall be invoked only when the recruitment or inducement is accomplished by a grant or loan of money or a promise of a grant or loan of money from the Commonwealth to the business or corporation recruited or induced to expand.
• Special Audit by the Auditor General.
The Department of the Auditor General conducts special audits of Commonwealth agencies under the Governor’s jurisdiction pursuant to its authority under the Fiscal Code 72 P.S. § 402.
• Require Senate approval for Special Adviser positions, newly created Executive positions and expanded Deputy Secretary appointments.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Joint State Government Commission, should reconvene and recommend solutions to problems identified in March 2003:
Most of current confusion regarding the necessity or level of senatorial consent required is attributable to three main items. First, the statutes are in disarray. The Administrative Code dates from 1929, whereas the preceding Administrative Code, act of June 7, 1923, P.L.498, No. 274, § 1, et seq.; 71 P.S. §§ 1-32, existed for only six years before another Administrative Code was enacted. The amendments to this code during the last 74 years have resulted in outdated and inconsistent provisions as well as disorganization.
The second main cause of confusion is the section relating to gubernatorial appointments. Administrative Code § 207.1; 71 P.S. § 67.1. This section would contain a definitive list if it were amended as often as successive legislation creates and recreates positions or abolishes positions for gubernatorial appointments. Instead, it provides a snapshot view of those gubernatorial appointments that require senatorial advice and consent so long as those positions were established prior to November 1976.4. Indeed, one must look well beyond the Administrative Code to discover all gubernatorial appointments including those requiring senatorial advice and consent. The aforementioned two items lead to the third main area
of confusion, actual practice. Examples of each of these three main items were published in previous years’ version of this document. (2)
You can’t be neutral when confronting fraud and waste. Either the Education Committees will hold hearings – and the Reform Caucus will lead – or they will stand down, look the other way and play possum.
End notes
1 “Special Report: Funding and Reforming Public Employee Retirement Systems Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public Employee Retirement Commission,” Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, January 2013, p. 5.)
2 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Joint State Government Commission, March 2003, p.11.