HARRISBURG -- Voters deserve to know before the November election whether Republicans as well as Democrats will be charged in the public corruption scandal at the state Capitol, Gov. Ed Rendell said Tuesday.
Rendell was adamant that Attorney General Tom Corbett, a Republican, should make a swift decision on whether to indict lawmakers or aides in the House Republican Caucus or the Senate. Twelve people in the House Democratic Caucus were charged last month with theft, conspiracy and conflict of interest in the first phase of an 18-month grand jury investigation.
"I don't understand why after two years you only could make your decision on Democrats," Rendell said while he was in Pittsburgh to make several economic development announcements. "If there was chicanery by all of the caucuses, (the voters) have the right to know that before the election. ...
"It appears to the average voter that the only misdeeds alleged are against the Democrats. I think the attorney general should make a decision on the other side of the aisle as well."
Corbett's spokesman Kevin Harley said the investigation is continuing. "The attorney general has indicated he expects that more charges will be filed when the grand jury has completed its investigation. However, it is inappropriate to put a timeline on an investigation of this magnitude and importance," Harley said.
Rendell's comments came as a Quinnipiac University poll showed 73 percent of Pennsylvanians blame both parties for the problems at the Capitol and that three of four respondents aren't convinced the Legislature will solve them.
By a 5-1 margin, voters say House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese, D-Greene County, should step down from his leadership post in the wake of the criminal charges that rocked the Capitol last month, according to the poll.
Corbett on July 10 filed charges against former Whip Mike Veon of Beaver Falls; Rep. Sean Ramaley of Economy; Mike Manzo, DeWeese's former chief of staff; and nine Democratic staffers.
Only 24 percent of voters said they were very confident or somewhat confident the Legislature will act to correct corruption alleged in the grand jury presentment, according to the poll.
The poll of 1,580 voters has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.
DeWeese, who has not been charged, maintains his innocence and says that underlings carried out an alleged political operation from the Capitol and awarded taxpayer-paid bonuses to staffers for political work.
In a statement responding to the poll, DeWeese said he respects voters' opinions and that a better education effort is needed to tell Pennsylvanians about the accomplishments enacted by the Legislature this session -- from a statewide smoking ban and insurance coverage for children with autism to the largest increase in basic education funding in 20 years.
"We now will focus on informing Pennsylvanians about our aggressive agenda for this fall that includes health care, further implementation of our energy agenda and our continued work on reform," DeWeese said.
DeWeese remained effective through the budget process and in getting recent legislation passed, despite calls for him to step down, Rendell said. The governor said he could see the issue from both sides but that he will let lawmakers resolve the dispute.
"On the one hand, the presentment did not indict Bill DeWeese or didn't even say he did anything wrong," Rendell said. "On the other hand, you could say he was the leader, and did he know what was going on or should he have known what was going on?"
Brad Bumsted can be reached at bbumsted@tribweb.com.
Andrew Conte can be reached at aconte@tribweb.com.
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