PHEAA

==Insights==
===Cleaning up the mess at PHEAA===
:Friday, March 23, 2007 by Tony Phyrillas, columnist for The Mercury in Pottstown, Pa. ::He received a first place award for Best Opinion Column in 2007 by Suburban Newspapers of America. He was also honored for column writing in 2006 by the Society of Professional Journalists.
Two Republican state senators plan to introduce
legislation to bring some accountability and fiscal
sanity to PHEAA, the student-loan agency that has
wasted nearly $1 million to pamper its employees and
the legislators who serve on its board.It's about
time.
State Sen. John Rafferty (R-Montgomery) and state Sen.
Jane Orie (R-Allegheny) recently unveiled a plan to
restructure the current appointment, reporting and
accounting procedures of the Pennsylvania Higher
Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) board.
The legislation will require PHEAA to contract with a
third party accounting firm to conduct an annual
forensic audit of the PHEAA board which must be
submitted to the House and Senate Finance Committees
by April 1 of each year.
PHEAA would also be required on that date to submit a
report to the Senate and House Finance Committees
which contains all expenses and revenues associated
with the operations of the PHEAA board.
Imagine that. An audit of an agency that spends
hundreds of millions of dollars, much of it taxpayer
dollars, during the course of the year. Why didn't the
executive director of PHEAA think of that?
The legislation also requires that all appointees to
the PHEAA board selected by the House and the Senate
be approved by a majority vote in their respective
chambers.
It would prohibit standing legislators from serving
more than 2 consecutive terms on the PHEAA board.
(Some of the current PHEAA board members have served
for 20 years).
This is where it gets good. The PHEAA board, made up
mostly of state legislators and members of Gov.
Rendell's administration, has been asleep at the wheel
for decades while the agency wasted hundreds of
thousands of dollars.
Some familiar legislative names on the PHEAA board
include:
* Rep. William Adolph Jr., 
* Sen. Sean Logan,
* Rep. Ronald I. Buxton, 
* Sen. Jake Corman, 
* Rep. Craig A. Dally, 
* Sen. Jane Earll, 
* Sen. Vincent Fumo, 
* Sen. Vincent J. Hughes, 
* Rep. Sandra J. Major, 
* Rep. Jennifer L. Mann, 
* Rep. Joseph F. Markosek, 
* Sen. Michael A. O'Pake, 
* Sen. James J. Rhoades, 
* Rep. James R. Roebuck Jr., 
* Rep. Jess M. Stairs, 
* Sen. Robert M. Tomlinson.
"Our goal is to bring greater accountability and
fiscal responsibility to PHEAA and ensure that funds
are not spent in a wasteful or unnecessary manner,"
Rafferty said. "The recent stories of financial
mismanagement and over-the top-spending have made it
necessary for us to take a closer look at the agency’s
fiscal bottom line."
Orie added that the legislation will ensure that PHEAA
revenue is used for the purpose it was intended – to
provide low-interest grants and loans to students.
"Lavish trips, tuxedos, and spa visits are not
defensible expenses and should be stopped," Orie said.
"This legislation will ensure that money is spent
prudently and put PHEAA on notice that it has to be
accountable to the Legislature and the citizens of
Pennsylvania."
Ken Schaefer, chairman of Vote For Integrity, a
citizens' watchdog group, has called for the immediate
resignation of Richard Willey, president and CEO of
PHEAA.
Willey, who makes $470,000 a year and was awarded a
$180,000 bonus last year, should step down immidiately
or be fired. The $900,000 was wasted during his tenure
and the agency cannot regain public confidence as long
as Willey remains CEO.
All incumbent PHEAA board members should also step
down. These career politicians failed to perform their
oversight duties over PHEAA. (It's also interesting to
note that most of the legislators on the PHEAA board
voted themselves huge pay raises in July 2005. These
people have a serious judgment problem.)
category:organizations