Tuesday's indictments of state Rep. Bill DeWeese and two others on charges of using state employees for campaign work are the latest development in an ongoing investigation by the state attorney general's office that has become known as Bonusgate. So far, 25 people connected to the House of Representatives have been charged with misuse of public funds and resources for political purposes.

The first set of charges, filed last year against House Democrats including former state Rep. Mike Veon, D-Beaver, focused on big year-end bonuses paid to legislative staffers for what appeared to be campaign work.

The second set of charges, announced last month, targeted House Republicans, including former speaker John Perzel of Philadelphia, for using taxpayer resources for political purposes. Perzel and nine others were charged in connection with the alleged use of millions of taxpayer dollars for a computerized database system used to help Republicans win elections.

This week, the charges against DeWeese, former state Rep. Stephen Stetler and a DeWeese staffer allege using taxpayer funds to pay for campaign work. Although DeWeese was implicated by some testimony to the grand jury investigating the bonus scandal, he has not been charged with involvement in that alleged misuse of taxpayer funds.

The latest charges are stunning, but not surprising. Since the first round of charges, testimony has made it clear that the practice of using taxpayer funds for political gain was not isolated to one or two rogue lawmakers. Using taxpayer money, instead of campaign money, for election work seems to have been widespread and broadly accepted.

That, in fact, might be the basis of DeWeese's defense. Talking about the hyperpolitical atmosphere in Harrisburg, DeWeese was quoted in a Pittsburgh newspaper saying, "We did not think it was a criminal practice, because so much of what we did was to try to get elected and re-elected. It was just a part of that culture."

If Harrisburg is ever going to be cleaned of corruption, the "everybody does it" defense cannot stand.

Attorney General Tom Corbett has a different take on using taxpayer resources, including legislative employees paid with taxpayer dollars for campaig work: "That's illegal. It's a conflict of interest, common sense will tell you."

But those few who questioned the practice were ignored or punished. Grand jury testimony revealed that one DeWeese staffer who questioned the idea of doing political work from the legislative office was transferred to another office.

In a similar situation involving Stetler, who resigned as state revenue secretary hours before charges were announced, there was some talk of shifting political work called opposition research from the Democratic caucus to an outside firm that specialized in this sort of work. Stetler, who then was a campaign strategist for House Democrats, reportedly rejected the idea, saying "Why would we change a system that's already working well?"

The view of Stetler, DeWeese and more than a few others has been to use taxpayer funds for campaign work rather than paying for that work with campaign donations, as the law and common sense dictate.

Former state Sen. Vincent Fumo, D-Philadelphia, who was convicted on more than 100 counts of corruption for misuse of state funds and assets of a nonprofit agency, was famously quoted as being a fan of spending OPM — other people's money — whenever possible. Fumo's misuse of taxpayer funds was mostly for personal financial gain, while the misuse of state taxpayers' money alleged against DeWeese, Stetler, Veon and others appears to have been for political gain. Both, however, are illegal and obviously wrong.

As the various Bonusgate-related trials are reported in the media, the public will have a chance to see the inner workings of Harrisburg and the sense of entitlement of many lawmakers. The arrogance of politicians blatantly using taxpayer money for their own re-election work should fuel the same sort of voter outrage that emerged after the 2 a.m. legislative pay-raise vote of 2005.

And with voters paying attention and angry going into next year's elections, another exodus of incumbents from the General Assembly — by conviction, retirement or election defeat — will help pave the way for new, reform-minded state lawmakers who understand that they have been elected to serve the public, not themselves or their party.