Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives accomplished something that far longer eluded their federal counterparts: electing a leader for their chamber. Mark Rozzi, a five-term Democrat from Berks County, is the new Speaker of the House — despite its slight and temporary Republican majority.
He’s at least stated that he’s renounced his party affiliation to govern as an Independent.
We are encouraged by the legislature’s willingness to take a risk and experiment with a new way of doing business. Can it work? Mr. Rozzi must be able to handle the pressure of trying to bridge both parties. The parties trust each other enough to make the experiment work.
Here’s how we got here. In November, voters elected Democrats in 102 legislative districts, and Republicans in 101 districts. However, Democrat Anthony DeLuca of Penn Hills had died in October, leaving the Democrats with 101 living members. Then incumbent Democrats Summer Lee and Austin Davis resigned their seats in order to ascend to higher offices. And so those 102 victories yielded only 99 members, giving the GOP a functional majority.
As if that weren’t confusing enough, Rep. Lynda Schlegel Culver, R.-Northumberland, is vying for a state Senate seat on Jan. 31. If she prevails, which is likely, the Republicans will temporarily be reduced to 100 members.
All manner of legal and political wrangling has ensued, including a shameful attempt by the outgoing Speaker of the House, Bryan Cutler, R.-Lancaster, to delay two special elections in Ms. Lee’s and Mr. Davis’s deep blue districts and maintain his party’s majority for longer.
This, in fact, is the first test of the parties’ sincerity in sharing power: Mr. Cutler should rescind his amended writs of election for May 16 and agree to the original date of February 7, so that voters in those districts can quickly restore their representation in Harrisburg. Democrats should agree to the earliest possible date for the Culver special election.
Neither side should try to press an advantage in the meantime. Republicans in particular should not try to send amendments to the state constitution to the people while they have a temporary majority.
Once all the special elections have taken place, in all likelihood both parties will have 101 members. Mark Rozzi will stand alone as the independent speaker.
It’s impossible to overstate how challenging his position will be. The partisan divide is unusually deep in the Pennsylvania General Assembly, including in the design of the building itself. Mr. Rozzi, who has pledged to staff his office with team members from both parties, will have a lonely road.
The chamber’s members can help by continuing the spirit of bipartisanship begun on Tuesday. That means party leaders compromising on everything from House rules to committee leadership. Mr. Rozzi can’t possibly make all these decisions himself; he will need to trust Democratic and Republican leaders, and they will have to trust each other.
If they do, Pennsylvania could chart a new course of bipartisan government. If they don’t work together, the experiment will descend into chaos.
— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP
