PHEAA ordered to pay legal fees in access case

HARRISBURG - A judge ruled that Pennsylvania's student loan agency acted with wanton disregard when it withheld spending records, and ordered it to pay $48,000 in legal fees incurred by three media companies that fought in court for the documents.

The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Authority acted willfully and disregarded the state's Right-to-Know Law in a battle over spending records, including those about its lavish board retreats, Commonwealth Court Judge Doris Smith-Ribner said.

The decision issued Friday said there was no legitimate reason for PHEAA to delay access to the records for 20 months. The agency was ordered to pay legal fees incurred by the Associated Press, the Patriot-News of Harrisburg, and Pittsburgh TV station WTAE.

The AP and Patriot-News sought records of the board retreats, while WTAE-TV wanted to know what the agency's 2,700 workers spent on airfare, hotel rooms, meals and other expenses between 2003 and 2005.

The records showed the board, which is dominated by state legislators, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars at posh resorts between 2000 and 2005, including on luxuries such as alcohol, golf fees and spa treatments.

For example, a three-day retreat for about 50 people in 2005 at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort and Spa in southwestern Pennsylvania cost $136,000, with dinner alone running $47,000.

The agency has defended the spending as part of the cost of doing business, but has since moved to reform its expense policies. Spokesman Keith New said late yesterday that PHEAA officials were formulating a public response to the ruling but it was not yet available.

Patriot-News executive editor David Newhouse said the decision was gratifying "especially because PHEAA not only denied our request from the beginning, as joined by AP and WTAE, but was very dismissive of our request."