A thank-you note to former state Sen. Vincent Fumo, now serving time in a federal prison, might be in order if a state, or federal, investigation leads to a cleanup and change of culture at the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission.

It was at Fumo's federal trial earlier this year for corruption and misuse of several million dollars in state funds and the funds and assets of a nonprofit group that evidence was revealed suggesting corruption at the Turnpike Commission.

For years, the Turnpike Commission has had a notorious reputation for patronage hiring and the easy spending of money for the political benefit of some of the more powerful figures in Harrisburg.

During the trial of the once-powerful Philadelphia Democrat, it was learned that Fumo had set up a job for his longtime friend Michael Palermo as a consultant to the Turnpike Commission. But federal investigators found no reports related to the $120,000-a-year job and said there was little or no evidence of any work done under that contract.

Earlier this month, Palermo pleaded guilty to conspiring with Fumo in taking the no-show job for which he was paid $287,000.

Another Fumo friend and associate, Mitchell Rubin, was shown to have accepted a no-work Senate job from the former state lawmaker. After testimony in Fumo's trial revealed that Rubin, who is married to Fumo's co-defendant, had collected $150,000 for a do-nothing job paid for with Senate funds, Gov. Ed Rendell fired him from his job as Turnpike Commission chairman.

Numerous no-bid contracts awarded by the Turnpike Commission also have been criticized in the past, including more than $1 million in fees to a Philadelphia law firm that Fumo had been associated with and that had been paying "rainmaker" fees.

Last week, it was learned that a state grand jury is investigating both patronage claims and "pay-to-play" politics at the Turnpike Commission.

Also last week, evidence surfaced that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into problems at the Turnpike Commission. The FBI report, according to some turnpike officials, is the result of internal reports that found problems related to work to widen the toll road near Valley Forge. It's been reported that the FBI removed a number of hard drives from computers at several offices in the Turnpike Commission's headquarters.

Any and all investigations of the tainted state agency, including work by Attorney General Tom Corbett and the state grand jury looking into the Turnpike Commisison, are welcome and long overdue.

Former Allegheny County Chief Executive Jim Roddey told a Pittsburgh newspaper that in terms of patronage and pay-to-play politics, the commission is a "classic example of government at its worst."

Fumo's corruption trial, which resulted in his being found guilty on 137 corruption charges, helped finally make public many of the questionable activities surrounding the Turnpike Commission that had been alleged for years. If the evidence presented at Fumo's trial ultimately leads to a shake-up of the Turnpike Commission that ends the insider dealings, political payoffs, no-bid contracts and other unethical practices, then Fumo will have done the state, and its taxpayers, a favor.

Despite years of allegations and widespread understanding of unethical practices and pay-to-play at the Turnpike Commission, there were no serious efforts by state officials to investigate or restructure the agency. Finally, it appears that separate investigations and fallout from the Fumo trial will succeed where others have failed.

Time will tell where the grand jury and FBI investigations lead. But today, there are more reasons to hope that the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission will be purged, cleaned up and reorganized as a more ethical, transparent and efficient agency than at any time in recent years.

Thank you, Vincent Fumo.