Theft charges brought down a state lawmaker. But Pa.’s taxpayer-funded system for perks was already ripe for abuse.

Theft charges against a Philadelphia-area Democrat highlight Pennsylvania’s lax rules for reimbursing lawmakers with taxpayer and donor money, two state-run systems with little transparency and even less oversight.

Those expense rules, highlighted in a series of stories by The Caucus and Spotlight PA over the last two years, have created “a culture of zero accountability,” Khalif Ali, executive director of Common Cause Pennsylvania, said during a recent Spotlight PA live event.