Pennsylvania governor's Cabinet official accused of dodging audit of program funded by taxpayers

A member of Pennsylvania Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro's cabinet is currently under subpoena after his department allegedly dodged records requests regarding a taxpayer-funded neighborhood initiative.

For more than a decade, the good people of Pennsylvania have been paying to fund the Allentown Neighborhood Improvement Zone, a program designed to revitalize the city after much of its industry began to collapse in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Since 2011, about $500 million have been allocated to the Allentown NIZ, and now state officials want more information about how that money has been spent.

'It’s hard to determine the value of a program when its financial records remain largely hidden and secretive.'

First-term Republican state Sen. Jarrett Coleman began exploring the issue in March 2023, when he made two official requests to the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue for financial records related to the Allentown NIZ. However, Revenue Secretary Pat Browne reportedly denied those requests.

By May 2023, Coleman had sought further assistance in the matter from the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee. He then drew up Senate Resolution 110, asking the LBFC to conduct "a performance audit" of the Allentown NIZ. In December, the LBFC agreed to do so.

According to reports, the LBFC has made at least four official attempts this year — on April 15, May 9, June 5, and June 6 — to gain access to the tax records associated with the Allentown NIZ, but the Revenue Department has seemingly thwarted each of those efforts.

As a result of the department's apparent stonewalling, the Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee, chaired by Coleman, voted on Wednesday to subpoena Secretary Browne.

"The sources of the Allentown NIZ’s revenues, the way it uses the money and the effectiveness of the program seem to be shrouded in mystery," Coleman said in a statement. "It’s hard to determine the value of a program when its financial records remain largely hidden and secretive."

This is not the first time Sen. Coleman and Sec. Browne have been at odds. Browne sat in the state Senate seat currently occupied by Coleman for nearly 20 years until Coleman defeated him in the 2022 GOP primary. After the loss, Browne, a longtime Pennsylvania Republican, was appointed to serve in the Cabinet of Democrat Gov. Shapiro.

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