A state assemblywoman from the Bronx, Gloria Davis, pleaded guilty yesterday to bribe receiving in the second degree. A press release from the district attorney of New York County states that Davis accepted $24,000 from a contractor in exchange for arranging for the contractor to win a contract to renovate a state-funded alcohol and drug treatment facility at the Bronx. As part of Davis’s plea bargain, “she will make restitution of $20,000.” Davis, who loses her job, had to pay a lawyer and will spend 3 months in jail, certainly doesn’t come out ahead. The deal saves New York the expense of a trial and the risk that a jury might acquit Davis on what is traditionally a difficult-to-prove charge. Still, it’s hard to escape the feeling that the $4,000 difference between the amount of the bribe and the amount of the restitution represents, to us taxpayers, the cost of corruption.