Sometimes, the principle of the thing matters more than the actual money involved. That’s the case here.

More than $175,000 in gifts for 45 state lawmakers might seem like chump change, as gifts to politicians go. But we Pennsylvania taxpayers would be the chumps if we dismiss this as no big deal.

Consider the $1,300 trip to Salt Lake City, Utah, that Republican state Sen. Ryan Aument, of West Hempfield Township, accepted from the Foundation for Excellence in Education, a Florida think tank also known as ExcelinEd.

Launched by former Republican Gov. Jeb Bush, the foundation champions “education choice” — the use of public money to enable students to attend private, including religious, schools. Aument, the state Senate Republican majority whip, is among those pressing for the passage of a new private-school tuition voucher program in the commonwealth.

“The National Summit on Education is a nationwide conference for legislators, educators, and stakeholders to come together to discuss successful education policies and share pathways to replicate that success back in their home states,” Aument said in his written response to questions from journalists.

Then there were the gifts accepted by state House Republican Leader Bryan Cutler of Drumore Township.

Cutler accepted more than $6,500 in transportation and hospitality costs to attend events held by the National Conference of State Legislatures in Paris, France, and Healthcare Information Management Systems Society in Orlando, Florida.

“Respectively, these legislative educational opportunities allowed Rep. Cutler to engage with lawmakers from across the country to learn about best practices and to further gain a better understanding of the changing global landscape of the healthcare industry and how that might impact legislation,” a spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

The “changing global landscape” apparently required that these “legislative educational opportunities” be offered in Paris, rather than Pottstown, and in Orlando, rather than Erie.

According to reports, “The National Conference of State Legislatures covered $5,547.50 of Cutler’s airfare, lodging at the Hotel du Lion D’or near the Louvre Museum in Paris and meals.”

Republicans, of course, aren’t the only ones accepting pricey gifts.

As last Sunday’s article noted, state Reps. Manuel Guzman of Berks County and Joshua Siegel of Lehigh County received 2022 World Series tickets worth nearly $2,000. We presume these Democratic lawmakers are Philadelphia Phillies fans, as their benefactors were Phillies minor league teams.

Members of Pennsylvania’s nominally full-time Legislature are well compensated: $102,844 is just the base salary (not including the daily expenses for which they can be reimbursed, without submitting receipts). Legislative leaders such as Cutler and Aument make significantly more.

By way of comparison, the median household income in Pennsylvania is around $70,000.

As LNP journalists reported recently, “Session after session, a few Pennsylvania lawmakers propose bills to ban or restrict gifts. This year’s attempt is a bipartisan bill by Democratic Rep. Jared Solomon of Philadelphia and Republican Rep. Paul Schemel of Franklin County. The bill has been stuck in committee since March.”

Color us shocked that the lawmakers who receive generous — and automatic — cost-of-living pay increases every year aren’t in a rush to turn off the gift faucet. Or to make it easier for constituents to search the state Ethics Commission website for the lawmakers’ statement of financial interest documents on which gifts valued at more than $250 and travel reimbursements of more than $650 must be disclosed.

Former Republican state Rep. Katie True, who resides in East Hempfield Township, punctured the notion that gifted trips are an essential way for lawmakers to gather information on complex subjects.

“If lobbyists will come and sit in your office and talk with you for even an hour, you’re pretty well briefed on what’s going on,” True said in a recent article.

And that, the aptly named True pointed out, “costs nothing.”

— LNP/LancasterOnline