The recent public scrutiny of a legislative leader's use of state airplanes is almost enough to cause people to feel sympathy for the Pennsylvania elected official put in the spotlight.

Almost.

Although state lawmakers might be feeling unfairly put-upon by all the publicity over their pay, benefits and ways of doing business in Harrisburg, they have to know that they brought it on themselves.

Ever since the controversial pay-raise vote of July 7, 2005, much of the legislature has had a generally unflattering light shined on questionable behavior and examples of clear bending of the state constitution — basically, a status quo ripe for reform.

The 2 a.m. pay-hike vote led to months of news stories on various topics that painted a picture of many lawmakers being self-serving and not sensitive to the needs of average citizens.

The list of reformers' targets is long and includes:

n Banning the use of unvouchered expenses.

n Requiring a longer passage of time before bills that have changed substantially from their original wording or meaning can be voted upon.

n Reducing the pay and trimming the benefits of a legislature that is considered the most expensive in the United States.

n Eliminating the lame-duck session in November — a practice allowed by only a dozen states. That would require that all official business, except for true emergencies, be conducted before the November election.

n Requiring full regulation of lobbyists and reporting of gifts to lawmakers, which is something already done by every other state.

n Requiring documentation for reimbursed expenses and generally tightening rules for per diems.

There are other targets for reform, and the latest to make headlines is the frequent-flyer habits of some state lawmakers — at taxpayer expense.

The Harrisburg pol logging the most hours in state airplanes is House Minority Leader H. William DeWeese. Since 2001, DeWeese has flown on one of the state's two airplanes 51 times. The estimated cost to taxpayers for DeWeese's travels on the state planes is $93,000.

Interestingly, in the current legislative session, DeWeese has taken only one flight on a state plane.

As a leader in the House, DeWeese has legitimate reasons for a fair amount of travel. A DeWeese spokesman reported that state planes have been used to take DeWeese to the opening of a power plant, a labor meeting, a fire chiefs convention and a funeral.

DeWeese's reduced travel this year is clearly a result of the increased public scrutiny — and criticism. The Greene County Democrat complained to a Pittsburgh newspaper that he is "rather weary of being buffeted and pummeled by the press."

But better scheduling of event attendance, more highway driving and even turning down some requests for attendance would not make DeWeese less effective.

Since the pay-raise fiasco, voters might be a bit over-sensitive to lawmakers' generous perks and use of taxpayer dollars, but that's better than voters not paying attention to how lawmakers in Harrisburg do their jobs and how they spend taxpayers' money.

DeWeese's peers in the leadership ranks use the state planes too, but generally only once or twice a year. That ought to be enough for DeWeese also.

Lawmakers also can fly commercial, like everybody else. In the first half of 2005, state Rep. Mike Veon, D-Beaver Falls, took more than 44 commercial flights, which cost taxpayers $13,000.

During that same period, Rep. Frank LaGrotta, who represents a small part of Butler County, charged taxpayers some $15,000 for at least 20 commercial flights. Democrat LaGrotta, who was defeated in the May primary, has said his flying picked up due to the pain associated with several spinal-fusion surgeries.

Travel to and from Harrisburg can be a grind, especially for lawmakers living in the western part of the state. But these lawmakers are being provided with state-paid car leases or mileage reimbursement.

The costly travel habits of certain lawmakers is not as important an issue as the other targets for reform, but those costly habits are another example of questionable behavior being revealed by the fact that watchdog groups, the press and voters are paying closer attention to what goes on in Harrisburg.

This scrutiny should continue so that new — or newly chastened incumbent — lawmakers make the rules changes necessary to make the General Assembly more accountable, more transparent and more effective at serving citizens, rather than members serving themselves.