Laurel Highlands Today

Following news that the governor’s office will publicize the flight logs when using Pennsylvania State Police aircraft, Representative Charity Grimm Krupa (R-Fayette) released a statement highlighting the development. Grimm Krupa credited the persistence of press reporting and the efforts of Sens. Scott Martin and Jarrett Coleman for unearthing information about Governor Josh Shapiro's use of state police aircraft instead of the plane operated by PennDOT.

“Flight logs for PennDOT’s plane are updated and publicized monthly, but that hasn’t been the case for state police aircraft. While I’m glad to hear flight logs for the governor’s trips on state police aircraft will now be subject to the same treatment,” Grimm Krupa stated, “I believe the governor still has some work to do if he wants to be truly transparent.”

Grimm Krupa expressed concern over the lack of information on how often Governor Shapiro utilized state police aircraft. “We currently have no idea just how frequently the governor was using the state police aircraft. The governor should publicize all records for the state police flights he has taken so that we can learn exactly how many taxpayer dollars have been spent flying him across the Commonwealth.”

Additional attention was drawn to Grimm Krupa's proposed legislation, which seeks to limit the use of the state airplane exclusively to official business. The proposal further aims to restrict passengers from partaking in political activities or attending sporting events during these flights. “It is not the taxpayers’ responsibility to fund any of the governor’s trips that mix business with pleasure,” she asserted.

Grimm Krupa recognized the governor’s new policy as a positive development but insisted that further steps are necessary, stating, “The governor’s new policy is a step in the right direction, but we have a long way to go.”