HARRISBURG -- A statewide grand jury is considering recommending charges against former House Speaker John Perzel, R-Philadelphia, and a number of others in connection with millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded computer data that investigators believe was used for political campaigns.

The jury met late last month. It is not clear if a presentment was returned under seal at that time, but figures close to the investigation say questions centered on Mr. Perzel and computer contracts signed with two firms that provided data on voting households in various state House districts.

The probe, headed by Attorney General Tom Corbett, a Republican, grew out of an earlier investigation into allegations that House staff members received taxpayer funds disguised as job performance bonuses in return for working on political campaigns in 2006 and 2004.

Yesterday, two prominent House employees, Brett Feese and Al Bowman, abruptly left their jobs. Both men had been questioned by investigators for the attorney general's office.

Mr. Feese, a former lawmaker, had been chief counsel to the Republican caucus. Mr. Bowman had worked for House Policy Committee Chairman Stan Saylor and at one time also was spokesman for the House Republican Campaign Committee.

Caucus spokesman Steve Miskin confirmed their departures yesterday. Mr. Bowman issued an e-mail saying he was leaving the job to spend more time with his family, citing 20-hour work days in his job. Mr. Feese could not be reached for comment.

Mr. Corbett, who is running for governor, has been under heavy criticism in Democratic circles, because the more than two-year investigation to date has only resulted in charges against Democrats.

Sources close to the probe said Mr. Feese was questioned by investigators for the attorney general's office about the movement of a number of boxes from inside the Capitol to offices elsewhere, including the state House Republican Campaign Committee in February of last year.

The boxes contained a variety of materials from a 2004 campaign committee Mr. Perzel oversaw.

The main thrust of the investigation into the Republicans, however, has been state computer contracts worth more than $9 million with two database firms.

The contracts were let through Mr. Perzel's office when he was the Republican majority leader.

One of the companies, GCR and Associates, based in New Orleans, had contracts from 2002 to last year to provide to the House Republican caucus detailed information on registered voters.

During the same time period, the House Republican Campaign Committee paid GCR $73,000 for "database management."

Sources close to the probe say prosecutors have focused attention on several House Republican Caucus employees in the probe.

The grand jury also is investigating a House Republican caucus contract with another firm, Aristotle Inc., for similar database services. The Aristotle contract included language that suggested it could be used for political campaigns.

The GCR state contract called for the creation of "jurisdictional management packages for GOP House districts," that included voter registration information and voting history.

The contract called for the firm to work with telephone vendors to "target desired voters and add supplemental demographic information where warranted."

The contract also required GCR to construct a statewide voter database as well as a computer application to serve the offices of GOP House members.

Such a database would not be an illegal expenditure unless used for campaign purposes, and state investigators are trying to determine if the data were used in that way.

Language in the Aristotle contract called for creation of a computer program to catalog voters down to their individual precincts and included an amendment requiring the firm to provide staff to enter data for use in elections.

That amendment, signed by J. Anthony Painter, then director of Republican information technologies and later an official with Aristotle, calls for each House district in Pennsylvania to be created as a database "populated by data provided by the caucus" and available to caucus staff.

"The caucus will provide the necessary staff to provide for the proper editing of the address lists for all districts so that all districts will be properly loaded and ready for use in the elections," the amendment said.

Earlier in the investigation, prosecutors focused on the House Democratic caucus. Twelve former Democratic House members and staff members were charged with a variety of criminal counts growing out of the probe and face trials in December and January.

House Republican leaders don't yet know how they will replace Mr. Feese, whose last day was Tuesday, or Mr. Bowman, who will be on payroll through Nov. 18.

"We just found out they were leaving, so I don't know," Mr. Miskin said.

Mr. Bowman's salary was $98,685. Mr. Feese had been the Legislature's highest-paid staffer, earning $197,000 a year, thousands more than Gov. Ed Rendell.

His compensation package as been a source of controversy since 1997, when he was hired as chief counsel and director of litigation. Initially, in addition to a $155,000 salary, he had a $95,000 contract.

Republican leaders nixed the contract and raised his salary to $197,000 after critics questioned whether it was legal for a state employee to also hold a government contract.

Mr. Feese represented Lycoming County in the Legislature from 1994 to 2006 and was chairman of the House Appropriations Committee when his party held the majority.

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