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Individuals, families and businesses are expected to pay their bills. Governments at all levels should be held to that same responsible standard.
Despite developments during the past week, people of this state still need to know more about the bill the commonwealth was asked to pay for investigative services provided by a Washington, D.C.-area law firm.
The services were in connection with the pornographic email scandal that ended Pennsylvania state government careers, claimed two state Supreme Court justices and resulted in reprimands to a number of other employees.
Former Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane, who was convicted in August on perjury and obstruction charges for leaking secret grand jury files to embarrass a rival prosecutor and lying under oath about it, hired a team led by former Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler to examine 6.5 million emails and report on the findings.
Kane, who resigned following her conviction, commissioned the report in December 2015. According to an Associated Press report in the Dec. 30 Mirror, the review found no evidence of "even remotely prosecutable" crimes.
Prior to last week, the Pennsylvania AG's Office said it had paid the BuckleySandler law firm, of which Gansler is a part, $385,000 for its work. However, the AG's office said BuckleySandler was seeking an additional $1.5 million.
In the Dec. 30 Mirror article, a spokesman for outgoing Attorney General Bruce Beemer was quoted as saying the office was attempting to negotiate an "acceptable settlement" below the additional amount.
Then, on Jan. 11, Beemer reported that a settlement had been reached under which the state would pay an additional $1.4 million, "about $400,000 less" than the AG's office said BuckleySandler had sought.
The numbers don't add up. If BuckleySandler was seeking $1.5 million more and the state will pay an additional $1.4 million, the state isn't saving $400,000.
But beyond that, what specifically about BuckleySandler's work caused Beemer to dispute the firm's original figure? Beemer's successor Josh Shapiro, after he settles into his AG leadership role this week, needs to provide a more detailed explanation about the bill and settlement.
Beemer did attack the probe's methodology and some of the 50-page report's findings. And, the report did identify some additional senders of objectionable emails who Beemer said could face discipline.
However, those points don't fully explain the differences between the money initially sought and the payment ultimately agreed upon.
The money dispute raises questions about Kane's judgment in regard to the purchase of services. The state always should know exactly what it is buying and the worth of what is being purchased, before any work is done.
Beemer merits praise for raising a "red flag" when he determined that questions were justified.
Most people of this state probably thought that they'd heard the last about Kathleen Kane after she left office.
But in addition to her name coming up in the billing dispute, Kane, who has not yet begun serving her 10- to 23-month jail sentence, has begun seeking to have her nine-count perjury and obstruction conviction overturned on grounds of trial errors and overlapping charges.
Kane is out of office but she's still a newsmaker -- unfortunately, for reasons not a source of pride for Pennsylvania.