Pennsylvanians received another reason to nickname their state legisture the Pennsylvania General Assembly of Corruption last week with the filing of charges against 10 people connected with the House Republican Caucus.

While the 10 people, who include former House speaker and current Rep. John Perzel of Philadelphia and former Rep. Brett Feese of the Williamsport area, must be presumed innocent until proven guilty, the fact that they were charged at all broadens the stain that was uncloaked 16 months ago when a dozen people connected to the House Democratic caucus were charged. They included former Democratic Whip Michael Veon of Beaver County.

Trials for those charged in the probe of the Democratic caucus are expected to occur in December and January.

State Attorney General Tom Corbett alleged that those tied to the GOP caucus and charged last week spent millions of taxpayer dollars on computer technology to gain an upper hand in campaigns, and that some high-ranking officials had been involved in attempting to cover up the illegal activity.

Likewise, the Democratic aspect of the grand jury probe that implicated the 10 Republicans also revolved around the use of taxpayers' money for illegal campaign purposes.

According to Corbett, Perzel was the architect of a scheme in which more than $10 million was spent to help win political campaigns. The grand jury's presentment said the panel found that the House Republican caucus had spent more than $20 million between 2000 and 2007 on many activities that benefited political purposes.

Corbett said Perzel sought to gain a competitive advantage in political campaigns for himself and other Republican candidates throughout the state to maintain and increase his power.

The 456-count, 188-page grand jury presentment last week, coupled with the charges handed down against Democrats 16 months ago, has to have state residents wondering whatever happened to honesty in government and the principle of public service.

People who have been concerned over the past decade that their state government had evolved into partisan quicksand that has turned basic responsibilities like passing a budget into crises, and that has resulted in even seemingly simple actions becoming difficult in terms of reaching an accord, now are faced with the grim realization that many in their government are accused of being crooks — people who, in effect, have stolen taxpayers' money for their own political benefit.

Couple that with the 2001 pension grab that is expected to "steal" significantly more money from the taxpayers beginning in about 2012, and the ill-fated July 2005 middle-of-the-night unconscionable and excessive pay-raise vote, and no wonder many state residents are wondering how deep the corruption extends.

In the case of Perzel, here was a House member who not only served as House speaker for nearly four years, but also served as majority leader for nearly a decade before that.

Some people might consider it naive to think that Perzel be impeccably clean, considering the cesspool much of politics has become. But it's not too much to think that top state officials should be leaders for the right reasons, not for reasons that undermine the Legislature's image, reputation and ability to get work done.

The whole situation — from the Democratic and Republican perspectives — suggests the demise of public service. What now is in place for too many officials is a hellbent desire for individual and party power — and to hell with the people lawmakers were elected to serve.

Radical change is necessary for the Pennsylvania General Assembly of Corruption. Although in most cases non-elected people have been charged in the grand jury probe, they were employees of people who were elected, and that must be of deep concern. Those underlings took orders from someone who presumably holds or held an elected position.

It's possible that some people also worthy of being charged will avoid that fate, but what is transpiring should be a lifelong lesson to them.

At the same time, it's imperative that all those serving in the Legislature publicly commit themselves to cleaning up the mess — at the same time acknowledging that an awesome task is before them and extraordinary effort will be necessary to regain public trust and respect.

— J.R.K.