The Pennsylvania Senate on Wednesday voted to take away the perk of taxpayer-provided housing for the state’s lieutenant governor.
By a vote of 48-0 without debate, the chamber approved the legislation that permanently turns over the property at Fort Indiantown Gap to the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs to support programming for veterans and survivors’ families. Details of the transfer, including a timetable for it to occur, are to be spelled out in a memorandum of understanding.
Military and veterans affairs spokeswoman Joan Nissley said how the department would use the property has not been determined.
“If the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs takes possession of the property, engineering and evaluation assessments will be conducted to determine the best use for the facility. We hope the residence can be used to support programs for Pennsylvania’s veterans, National Guardsmen, and their families which are core to DMVA’s missions,” Nissley said.
The measure, which now goes to the House of Representatives for consideration, would bring Pennsylvania in line with other states that do not provide housing for their second-in-command.
Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson County, who sponsored the bill and was a one-time occupant of the residence, said the timing is right to transfer the property since Lt. Gov. John Fetterman has chosen not to live there. Scarnati said, "Taxpayer dollars should not be used to simply maintain a building that no one lives in.”.
Fetterman said he chose to rent an apartment in Harrisburg instead of living at the official residence because he didn’t feel taxpayers owed him and his family a place to live.
The lieutenant governor’s residence, called the “State House,” includes a three-story, 2,400-square-foot stone house. Built in the 1940s, It has a five-car garage and a large swimming pool with a poolhouse. Originally, it was constructed to provide housing for the state’s adjutant general. Periodically, it served as the governor’s summer mansion prior to being turned over in 1971 to house the lieutenant governor.
This is the swimming pool at the lieutenant governor's residence that Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and his wife Gisele opened up for the first time to groups to use to teach water safety and offer novel exposure to swimming this past summer. Fetterman said he would like to see that pool access to continue for the program his wife oversees.
A spokesman from the state Department of General Services has said it costs $400,000 a year to maintain the property when it is fully occupied and $100,000 when it is not occupied. That $100,000 covers the cost of upkeep and a full-time maintenance employee.
Scarnati initially proposed selling the residence outright but that was considered problematic since it is located on a military base that headquarters the Pennsylvania National Guard. Under the proposed arrangement, the state would retain ownership of the property.
Nine lieutenant governors have lived in the residence, starting with the late Lt. Gov. Ernest Kline and ending earlier this year with former Lt. Gov. Mike Stack.
* This post has been updated to clarify the cost of maintaining this property and to include the comment from the military and veterans affairs department spokeswoman.
Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy.
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