Tom Corbett

HARRISBURG -- The Pennsylvania state legislature has entered a panicked frenzy this week as lawmakers race to approve the budget, which leadership reached a handshake agreement on early Monday morning. Most lawmakers wanted to be out of Harrisburg by Friday.

But that's not likely to happen, according to Capitolwire (subscription required).

An attempt Wednesday night to work past 11 p.m., when the House is supposed to adjourn, failed when lawmakers complained it was ran contrary to reforms the House tried to make after the pay-raise scandal in 2005.

That prompted House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese (D-Greene County) to say the House will probably need to work Friday and Saturday.

With lawmakers in Harrisburg absorbed by the traditional budget squabbles, The Patriot-News reports that the Capital could soon be rocked by charges stemming from the long-running investigation into bonuses granted to legislative staffers.

People familiar with the investigation told The Patriot-News that Attorney General Tom Corbett's year-long investigation of House Democrats will soon yield criminal charges. What remains unclear is if current lawmakers or staffers will be implicated, or if the charges will be contained to those no longer in office.

Corbett, a Republican, is himself facing reelection this year against  Democrat John Morganelli.

One thing is becoming clear, if former House Minority Leader Mike Veon had survived the pay raise backlash that claimed his political career, bonusgate may have ended it.  Most of Harrisburg is waiting back and biding their time in anticipation of Attorney General Tom Corbett’s finding into the blurry line of state house workers and campaign activities.  According to the Post-Gazzette, there was not much of a line when it came to Veon’s 2006 campaign as he drew dozens of state workers to try to help save his political backside for his 2006 re-election.

Democratic Party committeewoman Sandy Wolfe will deliver a message at this weekend's State Committee meeting: It's not all about John McCain vs. Barack Obama.

"Yes, we want the national ticket, but we're the state committee," said Wolfe, a Mechanicsburg resident. "We've never won attorney general, and I think John (Morganelli) stands a good shot."

She was referring to the Northampton County district attorney's attempt to unseat the Republican incumbent, Attorney General Tom Corbett.

If you are a Republican and want to run for office in Bucks County or if you are a state-wide Republican candidate and you want the support of the South East you needed to make an appearance in the Croydon basement. 

For those who have never heard of this, it is the basement/political museum in the home of Bucks Republican Chairman Harry Fawkes.  Almost all Republican presidents and Republican governors since 1972 have sat in that basement and asked for the blessing from the chairman. 

One well placed Bucks source told Inside Edge the 2010 gubernatorial candidate will have been in the Croydon basement.  With the early Republican favorites being Tom Corbett, Rick Santorum and Bill Scranton III, all having already visited the basement, they may be the last to go through the long tradition. 

Another Bucks Committeeman said it will be a sad day when Fawkes walks away, but he has build a strong bench ready to take over the Bucks machine. 

Northampton DA and democratic Attorney General candidate John Morganelli today hit Republican Attorney General Tom Corbett over election law reporting requirements.  “Because of Attorney General Tom Corbett's surrender in federal court in the case of Center for Individual Freedom, there is now no longer any reporting requirements for ANY person, committee, association or corporation who run tv ads, phone calls, direct mail, or any other type of communication with the voters and the public as long as the communication does not "expressly advocate the election or defeat of a candidate,"  said Morganelli.