HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday authorized a settlement agreement allowing contractors to be paid for security upgrades at Gov. Josh Shapiro’s (D) private home on Friday while stopping short of endorsing the payments.
Shapiro’s Montgomery County residence received more than $1 million in security upgrades at the recommendation of Pennsylvania State Police after an arson attack last year at the state-owned Governor’s Residence in Harrisburg while he and his family slept inside. The upgrades included $311,000 for a new security system and nearly $290,000 for landscaping and other groundskeeping.
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State police sought to pay for the upgrades with taxpayer dollars, along with $30 million in upgrades at the state-owned property. However, Treasurer Stacy Garrity (R), who is running against Shapiro for governor, refused to approve payments for work at the governor’s personal home, citing no legal authority to do so.
In a memo released Friday, Sunday agreed with Garrity’s concerns, writing that the Commonwealth could lawfully pay the contractors for their work only through a legislative appropriation or a settlement agreement to avoid litigation. He approved such an agreement, citing the uniqueness of the situation.
“In this case, the dilemma created by these expenditures is that there was an absence of proper procurement procedures, yet the contractors performed the work in good faith and deserve to be paid. Accordingly, we will approve the settlement agreements on a one-time basis,” Sunday wrote.
A spokeswoman for the governor, Rosie Lapowsky, thanked Sunday in a statement for avoiding political interference and approving the settlement.
“As the Attorney General demonstrated, the safety of the Governor and his family should never be weaponized for partisan gamesmanship – and our Administration will continue to work with law enforcement and elected officials across the Commonwealth to keep our leaders safe,” Lapowsky said.
The attorney general’s decision is unlikely to stop Republican scrutiny in Harrisburg over the payments. A Senate committee subpoenaed procurement and spending documents for the project in December, and a Republican lawmaker introduced a bill to impose a lien on any private property upgraded with state funds.
Shapiro’s neighbors also filed a federal lawsuit, alleging the governor abused his power to unlawfully take possession of their property to make security upgrades at his home. Shapiro countersued, and a spokesperson for the governor called the neighbor’s lawsuit “a shameless political stunt.”
Meanwhile, Garrity left open whether she would pay the settlement agreement, saying in a statement she had yet to receive the document and would review it to determine whether it “is lawful and correct.”
“Safety and security matter to everyone, but good intentions can never excuse ignoring the law,” Garrity said.
Sunday encouraged the Shapiro administration to seek legislative approval for future appropriations or to work on new laws that account for the rising threats to public officials and their families in his memo.
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He also questioned why state police sought approval for $30 million for upgrades at the state-owned residence from lawmakers, which they approved, but did not include the additional $1 million for Shapiro’s private home.
“As our office stated in a previous communication, a legislative appropriation would have been the quickest and cleanest solution,” Sunday wrote.
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