HARRISBURG -- In an unusual move, a Senate Republican committee chairman said Monday he will hire a private investigator to look into the role of Lionsgate Films and Pittsburgh lobbyist Leslie Merrill McCombs in lobbying for a $75 million film tax credit that became law in July.
Sen. Jeffrey Piccola of Dauphin County, who heads the State Government Committee, told the Tribune-Review he will hire a detective to explore inconsistencies between documents and public statements of Lionsgate and McCombs, a friend of Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell.
McCombs and the company waited more than four months to file registration statements required by state law, following a period when they sought the tax credits for the movie industry.
"Hiring an investigator is a very unusual action by a legislative committee," said G. Terry Madonna, a political science professor at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster County.
Sen. Wayne Fontana, D-Beechview, a committee member, protested Piccola's move, saying members of the committee were not consulted, and there are procedures in place for the Ethics Commission and Department of State to look at lobbying issues. Fontana called it "a little bit much" and part of an apparent political agenda by Piccola.
Chuck Ardo, a spokesman for Rendell, questioned using public funds to pay for an investigator. "It's hard to believe the senator believes this is the best use of taxpayers' money," Ardo said. If the "Legislature wants to investigate every alleged transgression by a lobbyist, that is its prerogative."
Hiring an outside investigator is not unprecedented, Piccola said. The Legislature hired an investigator during the impeachment of former Supreme Court Justice Rolf Larsen in 1994 and during the 1970s, when the Legislature investigated the cost of granite used in a Capitol addition, he said.
Piccola said his goal is to strengthen the state's 2006 lobbying law.
There is "not much of a penalty" for failing to register, and that is a legitimate topic for Piccola's committee, Madonna said. Political and legislative motivation often cross paths in committee investigations, he said.
Piccola said he is zeroing in on Lionsgate and McCombs because of "inconsistences and conflicting statements" about their lobbying activities. For example, McCombs' registration statement said she began work for Lionsgate on June 11. Lionsgate said she was hired May 1. Both registered earlier this month.
McCombs, a former Pittsburgh TV anchor and actress, has said failing to register was an oversight. She declined comment yesterday. McCombs is employed as a lobbyist for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. She said UPMC gave her permission to coordinate Lionsgate's effort.
The subscription news service Capitolwire broke the Lionsgate story Sept. 4 -- quoting Rendell as saying McCombs, a friend and fundraiser, worked with him in June and July to win passage of the tax credit. The wire service quoted Rendell as saying he did not know McCombs was lobbying for Lionsgate.
Mark Manuel, a Lionsgate official, didn't respond to an e-mail request for an interview yesterday.
The lobbying firm of former House Democratic Whip Mike Veon, which was Lionsgate's main lobbyist, also didn't respond to a request for an interview. The firm issued a statement two weeks ago acknowledging "mistakes will be made" in dealing with the new law.
"We know that all of our clients take the registration and reporting law seriously," Veon's associate, Colleen Kopp, said in a statement then.
Piccola said he will hold a hearing in the fall on the lobbying law.
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