Daryl Metcalfe

HARRISBURG — State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-12th, of Cranberry Township is crying foul after votes on a state budget deal allegedly were cast for a couple of legislators who were not at the Capitol.

Late Tuesday afternoon members of the House voted 100 to 99 to replace what had been a stopgap budget recommended by the Appropriations Committee with a framework budget, roughly the $30.8 billion budget proposed by the Senate during the weekend.

However, votes in favor of the budget apparently were cast for Washington County Democrat Rep. Pete Daley and Philadelphia County Democrat Rep. Leslie Acosta even though both were away from Harrisburg. In the House, representatives must be on the floor to cast votes.

Metcalfe sent a letter to the Republican caucus in the House to raise the issue and to see if the vote could be negated. He said, if those votes were not counted, the motion would have failed.

Metcalfe said he spoke with the Speaker of the House Mike Turzai and the House parliamentarian, and said they were not able to tell him if a vote could be eliminated.

However, Metcalfe did say House Majority Leader Dave Reed could bring the subject up on the floor and say that all subsequent votes related to the initial vote are tainted.

Although a new budget would make Tuesday’s vote a “moot point,” Metcalfe said it still is important to raise questions about it, saying the rule against proxy voting should be enforced.

“This is a reflection on the integrity of the institution,” Metcalfe said.

Metcalfe said he believes the House ethics committee should look into the situation.

“This is a serious problem, one as serious as identity theft,” Metcalfe said.

State Sen. Scott Wagner, a York County Republican, wrote on his election website that he sat in on the House’s vote and saw that Daley and Acosta cast votes even though they were absent.

Daley confirmed that he did not cast a vote on Tuesday.

“I was not on the floor,” he said.

Daley was away from the Capitol on Tuesday. An attorney, he had scheduled three hearings for Tuesday, including one in Butler. He said he scheduled those hearings months ago, noting that the House seldom has votes scheduled during the week of Christmas.

Earlier, he contacted Democratic Whip Michael Hanna to tell him that he would be “on leave” for the day. This is standard procedure to note that a legislator would be away from the Capitol and would prevent any vote from being cast in his name.

On Tuesday, he found out that he was not placed on leave, and contacted Harrisburg to make sure he was placed on leave.

As for who cast the vote, it is a mystery to Daley.

“I have no idea,” Daley said.

Acosta could not be reached for comment. Daley said she is in Nicaragua to be with her ailing father.