Evans, while avoiding meddling, still hopes a Philadelphian can be the state Senate's money man

DENVER--With longtime state Sen. Vince Fumo (D-Philadelphia) set to retire from Harrisburg to fight corruption charges, the Democrats need a new party chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Fumo brought billions in state funding to Philadelphia as the ranking Democrat on the committee, but chatter inside and outside the Capitol makes it seem like the position will go to someone from elsewhere in the state.

"I hope not," state Rep. Dwight Evans (D-Philadeplhia), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, told PolitickerPa.com today.

Evans is not the first Philadelphia politician to lament the possibility that control over the money could leave the state's biggest city, nor will he be the last.

"Obvioulsy, I would love for it to be a Philadelphian," Evans said.

Still, he was hesitant to engage in speculation about who might take Fumo's place, for fear of angering his colleagues in the upper chamber.

"It's really an internal battle in the Senate," Evans said.

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