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Democrats and a handful of Republicans picked the Pennsylvania House’s new speaker [1]

['Updated Jan.']

Date: 2023-01 

In remarks made after his selection, Rozzi, who was elected as a Democrat, announced he would no longer caucus with the party and would become independent.

“The commonwealth that is home to Independence Hall will now be home to this commonwealth’s first independent speaker of the House,” Rozzi said on the floor Tuesday. “I pledge my allegiance and my loyalty to no interest in this building, to no interest in our politics. I pledge my loyalty to the people of the commonwealth.”

The position of speaker is critically important. They have the power to moderate floor debate, call up bills for votes, and name the chamber’s committee chairs.

Until late Tuesday afternoon, Democrats had publicly maintained that state Rep. Joanna McClinton (D., Philadelphia), who serves as caucus leader, was their only pick for the role. She would have been the first woman to hold the gavel.

However, after the chamber tied on a motion to adjourn, state Rep. Jim Gregory (R., Blair) nominated Rozzi. Gregory is also a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and has worked closely with Rozzi on the issue.

Gregory later told Spotlight PA he and Rozzi had discussed the option of Rozzi running for speaker for “months.” But he said he didn’t bring the idea to his party leaders until around 2:30 Tuesday afternoon, when the chamber appeared on the verge of recessing without choosing a speaker.

“They were not aware,” Gregory said. “I made a suggestion to them. ‘Go to Mark Rozzi, I think you might be able to do it.’ And they did.”

State Rep. Bryan Cutler (R., Lancaster), who served as speaker last session and will lead the GOP caucus moving forward, said this year’s narrowly divided state House body was always going to require compromise in order to get anything passed. Now, with Rozzi declaring himself independent, Cutler said that’s even more necessary.

“Even at a full complement, we’re going to be at 101, 101, and one,” he said. “It’s going to necessitate all of us working together.”

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday — the first day of the legislature’s new two-year session — Democrats and Republicans waged a very public battle over which party rightfully controlled the chamber.

Democrats won 102 seats in November, flipping the chamber from Republican control for the first time since 2010. But on Tuesday, three of those seats were vacant. One was previously held by a lawmaker who died too close to Election Day to be taken off the ballot, and the other two were held by legislators who stepped down after winning other elected offices.

Those vacancies left Republicans with 101 members to Democrats’ 99. That tally gave the party a functional majority and left Democrats’ choice for speaker, McClinton, in need of GOP votes to take the gavel.

All three empty seats will be filled by special elections, which Democrats are likely to win. But exactly when two of those elections will be held is in dispute.

Democrats want to fill all three seats in early February, while Republicans argue two elections should be held in May at the same time as the off-year primary. The matter is currently being considered by the state’s appellate courts.

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[1] Url: https://whyy.org/articles/pa-house-picks-democrat-mark-rozzi-speaker/

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