A recent audit of Pennsylvania’s General Assembly is a reminder of the need for another push for reform in Harrisburg.

For starters, it’s worth remembering that the state Legislature has more lawmakers than nearly all other states and pays those lawmakers more than nearly all other states. Beyond that, Pennsylvania’s state lawmakers have more staffers than lawmakers in others states. The General Assembly spent $306 million last year, with 80 percent going to salaries and benefits for lawmakers and staff.

That’s not something revealed in the audit; it’s just the outline of what appears to be a bloated state legislature.

The audit revealed that the Legislature ended the last fiscal year with a surplus of $141 million, down from $184 million the previous year. Lawmakers argue that they need to maintain the huge surplus to keep the General Assembly functioning in the event of a political standoff with the executive branch. Many observers reject that idea.

One lawmaker suggests shifting some of the Legislature’s surplus, or slush fund, to the pension fund that pays lawmakers in retirement. That’s not a bad use for some of the surplus. Why not $100 million of it?

Another stunning finding in the audit is that the state Legislature operates with 38 separate checkbooks. Though progress has been made — there were once 100 checkbooks — it still sounds like a recipe for errors or abuse. The auditors said the checkbooks were “riddled with errors” and suggested moving to centralized check-writing with one checkbook.

That’s sensible. It’s not hard to imagine that dozens of different checkbooks are hard to manage properly and ensure oversight.

Another issue raised by the audit referred to conflicting leave policies. To illustrate the problems, it was noted that Vincent DeLiberato, the senior attorney for the Legislative Reference Bureau, was paid $318,115 last year. That stunning amount included DeLiberato’s salary of $121,500, plus about $196,000 in unused leave accumulated over 38 years on the job.

Now that similar abuses have been exposed across the country, the public wants sensible limits on accumulation of sick leave or vacation benefits, which can result in retirement bonus checks in excess of $100,000. That’s just gaming the system and should not be tolerated in any organization, especially one funded by taxpayer dollars.

Auditors also noted that some credit card bills were paid based on a summary of charges, but not a detailed statement. That’s an invitation to abuse — and after Bonusgate, the 2005 pay-raise scandal and the debate over unvouchered expenses, the Pennsylvania Legislature does not need another invitation to abuse. Before that, lawmakers should change the per diem system so that receipts are required for reimbursement for lawmakers’ food and lodging expenses.

Nearly every business requires receipts for expense checks. Why should state lawmakers not have to do the same?

Last month’s release of the accounting firm’s audit of the Legislature passed with little notice. Although the audit did not expose any major scandals, it did make some recommendations that are common sense and should not be ignored — by lawmakers, taxpayers or voters.