The 2006 election represented a historic opportunity for Democrats to retake control of the state House of Representatives after 12 years in the minority. To boost their changes of regaining majority status, House Democrats appear to have dispatched legislative high-level staffers to handle political work in some key races.

Reports coming out of Harrisburg suggest a blatant use of legislative staffers for purely political work — which is illegal and an improper use of taxpayer dollars. House Democrats appear to have engaged in the practice to a far greater degree, but the other caucuses also paid year-end bonuses that seem tied to political work. Subpoenas issued recently to House Republicans show that the ongoing investigation, which had been focusing on House Democrats, is spreading to the other side of the aisle.

As if incumbents didn't already have re-election odds stacked heavily in their favor; they have name recognition that comes with years in office, political appearances in their districts and news coverage in the local media. Incumbents send out free mailings to their constituents, under the guise of voter-education material. Incumbents can also deliver money to local groups by dipping into funds reserved for discretionary use by each of the four caucuses, two in the House and two in the Senate. These funds have been known as "walking around money" and are a good way to make friends and win support for re-election.

Now, it appears that party leaders also were using staffers, paid with non-partisan, taxpayer dollars, to do election work. Most of the attention has been focused on the $1.9 million paid to staffers who helped Democrats regain control of the House of Representatives. The amount of money paid as bonuses to staffers in 2006 was four times the amount paid in 2005, a nonelection year.

It is possible similar arrangements existed with Republicans in the House and Senate, but House Democrats outspent the combined total from House Republicans as well as Democrats and Republicans in the Senate by a four-to-one margin.

Investigative reporters with a Pittsburgh newspaper revealed that 80 percent of the 100 House Democratic staffers who were given the largest bonuses either worked on the campaigns of, or donated money to, Democratic leader H. William DeWeese or former Democratic Whip Mike Veon, of Beaver, who lost his re-election bid and is now a lobbyist.

As part of the news coverage of the staffer bonuses, it was learned that DeWeese had written a letter to House Democratic staffers receiving the big bonuses telling them to keep quiet about the whole affair.

When asked about the bonuses, which topped out at $28,000, Democratic leaders have said the year-end checks were strictly for exemplary legislative work. But information revealed by reporters supports another conclusion — that the bonuses were for political work.

Records reveal that one House Democratic policy analyst spent 11 weeks in Beaver Falls working on Veon's unsuccessful campaign for re-election. Another policy analyst working for House Democrats logged 10 trips between Harrisburg and Waynesburg to work on DeWeese's re-election campaign.

Records reveal that the House Democratic staffers continued to be paid their regular state salaries while working on the campaigns. And when bonus time rolled round, one of the staffers cited above received a $25,065 check and the other got $12,685 for his efforts.

A third high-ranking staffer drove some 3,000 miles during the 2006 campaign and also performed opposition background searches of Republican challengers and spent 10 days monitoring a post-election recount. On top of his $84,396 salary, he earned a $12,750 bonus.

It will be a tough sell for House Democrats to claim that there is no connection between the bonuses and campaign work.

Outrage over the controversial July 2005 pay-raise vote suggested incumbents would be vulnerable in the 2006 election. And, indeed, that turned out to be true, with record numbers of incumbents announcing their retirement or being defeated at the polls.

When the final votes were counted, Democrats did manage to secure a slim, one-seat margin in the House. But now, it is becoming clear that they had more than voter anger and anti-incumbency working for them.