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HARRISBURG — The state agency that promotes hunting in Pennsylvania has hired a lobbying firm run by a former top lawmaker using tens of thousands of dollars in public funds, an unusual arrangement that at least one legislator has tried to ban.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission entered into a $10,000-per-month contract last fall with Allegheny Strategy Partners, according to records obtained by Spotlight PA through a public records request. Joe Scarnati, a Jefferson County Republican who held the top leadership post in the state Senate for more than a decade, is one of three partners in the firm.
Though a handful of cities and regional authorities that rely on state aid deploy lobbyists to Harrisburg, state-level government agencies rarely employ these firms to gain influence with people who are essentially colleagues.