HARRISBURG -- State Sen. Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills, was elected yesterday as minority party chairman of the influential Senate Appropriations Committee, which oversees expenditures in the $28 billion state budget.

For 20 years, that Democratic post was held by Sen. Vincent Fumo of Philadelphia, who had a reputation for bringing sizeable state grants to his home town for various projects.

After federal officials charged Mr. Fumo with 139 counts of corruption in early 2007, he was replaced on Appropriations by Sen. Gerald LaValle of Beaver, who is retiring Nov. 30.

The majority party chairman of Appropriations will be Sen. Jake Corman, R-Centre, also elected yesterday. The GOP runs the Senate by a 29-20 margin, with one seat vacant. Mr. Costa and Mr. Corman vowed to work hard to deal with escalating state budget problems caused by a fall-off in state revenues in the current recession.

Re-elected as Senate Democratic leader was Sen. Robert Mellow of Lackawanna, who has held the job since 1988. Sen. Sean Logan, D-Monroeville, was elected as caucus secretary.

The Senate Republican leaders for 2009-10 will be the same as for 2007-08: President Pro Tem Joe Scarnati of Jefferson, Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi of Delaware and whip Jane Orie of McCandless.