State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Butler

A state lawmaker from Butler County is calling for a House Ethics Committee investigation into fresh allegations of "ghost votes" cast from the House floor on a series of budget-related votes Tuesday.

Rep. Daryl Metcalfe called into question votes cast by three members during a series of roll calls that led to the temporary advancement of a $30.8 billion spending plan that would, if enacted, require major tax increases.

The language was passed on a 100-99 vote in which, according to Metcalfe, three 'yes' votes were cast on behalf of members who were not present as per House rules.

The votes in question, Metcalfe said, were cast for Reps. Leslie Acosta, D-Philadelphia, Pete Daley, D-Washington, and John Maher, R-Allegheny.

Metcalfe, also a Republican, said Wednesday a full probe is needed to determine whether the members had properly placed themselves on leave; and, if they had, why their electronic vote buttons on the floor weren't locked for the day.

The issue came to his attention, Metcalfe said, while he was reviewing the roll call of that vote to swap the $30.8 billion budget into a proposed stopgap funding plan, and a colleague pointed out that Daley was not on the House floor.

In a subsequent vote to reconsider that issue, taken just minutes later, Metcalfe said he saw Daley's button being pushed by Daley's neighbor on the House floor, Rep. Michael Schlossberg, a Democrat from Allentown.

Metcalfe complained to House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny County, and from that point on members were required to be in their seats to cast a vote.

The rule in question states "No member shall be permitted to vote and have his or her vote recorded on the roll unless present in the hall of the House during the roll call vote."

Daley, reached Wednesday, told PennLive he had out-of-town business in his private legal practice to tend to Tuesday that had been scheduled long before anyone knew key budget votes would be on the House agenda that day.

He showed an email indicating he had requested to be placed on leave for the day before session started.

"I followed our rules and procedures... because I knew it was going to be a controversial day," Daley said. "They shouldn't have been voting me."

Bill Patton, a spokesman for the House Democratic leadership, said preliminary indications are that Daley's request for leave wasn't communicated to the House floor, though he could not immediately explain that lapse.

As for Acosta, she is traveling out of the country this week and could not be reached.

It was not immediately clear whether her leave request had been filed with the Democratic leadership, but her chief of staff Aissia Richardson, said Acosta is "vehemently opposed" to ghost voting.

Democratic Whip Mike Hanna, D-Clinton, deflected questions about the matter Wednesday, saying he is focused on trying to resolve the budget impasse.

Patton said later both situations are being examined internally within the Democratic caucus, and "if there's an error that was made it will be corrected."

Maher, a Republican from the suburbs of Pittsburgh, defended his vote Wednesday, noting he was in Harrisburg Tuesday and had been on the floor until he left to attend to some business from his Capitol office.

He was en route back to the floor when the vote was called, and a colleague cast his vote for him as a courtesy, he said. He then asked to be placed on leave for the remainder of the day.

Maher told PennLive he doesn't condone voting by absent lawmakers, but "if you're steps away from the floor, give me a break."

It's worth noting that it's not clear whether the "ghosts" actually changed the course of Tuesday's budget debate.

On subsequent votes in which the budget-swap could have been reversed, the big electronic tote board in the House showed that several Republican members were "in reserve," meaning that they had apparently agreed to support the bipartisan coalition if needed.

That was clearly evident on a vote to reconsider the controversial 100-99 vote.

At one point in the reconsideration roll call, there were as many as 104 votes to defeat the motion. The number eventually settled in at 101, as members saw their votes weren't needed, for a 101-98 vote against when the vote was recorded.

On Tuesday's last vote, one that positioned the so-called "framework" budget for final consideration on the House floor, and that came after Metcalfe's challenge resulted in Acosta and Daley being placed on leave, the vote for the bigger spending plan still drew 100 votes.

Reps. Brian Ellis, R-Butler, and Robert Godshall, R-Montgomery, who had been voting against the larger budget throughout the afternoon to that point, this time became 'yes' votes to position the bill for a final vote.

On Wednesday, meanwhile, the framework budget deal stalled again, and the state Senate actually sent Gov. Tom Wolf a smaller spending plan that, if adopted, likely would not require increases in the state's income or sales taxes.

But Metcalfe said all that's beside the point, since voters are entitled to have a vote cast in the Capitol by the representative they elect.

Metcalfe said in addition to an investigation into Tuesday's votes, he wants to see House rules changed to give members stronger powers to invalidate a vote in cases where rules have been broken.