Editorial: The surprising resolution of Pennsylvania’s House leadership vote

Tribune-Review | Thursday, January 5, 2023 6:01 a.m.

Courtesy of Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus

Mark Rozzi addresses the Pennsylvania House after being selected speaker.

The Pennsylvania Legislature is as polarized as a car battery.

Almost nothing can happen in the hallowed halls of Harrisburg without boiling down to positive and negative, pro and con and, above all, Democrat and Republican.

Until Tuesday.

On the same day the U.S. House of Representatives was paralyzed with stubborn indecision over its leadership, the Pennsylvania House was shaping up to do the same. After all, since Nov. 8, the lines have been drawn even more narrowly than in the federal legislature.

Democrats won a 102-101 majority that was upended from the moment the counting was complete because of the death of longtime legislator Tony DeLuca and the promotion of Summer Lee to the U.S. House and Austin Davis to the office of lieutenant governor. Settling those Allegheny County seats in special elections meant Republicans had a tentative 101-99 majority.

The parties both declared victory. They both picked their party leader, with Democrats tapping Rep. Joanna McClinton and the GOP leaning on the last speaker, Rep. Bryan Cutler.

So there was nothing more surprising than a new nomination being advanced for Rep. Mark Rozzi, a Berks County Democratic legislator embarking on his sixth term. The shocks kept coming as 16 Republicans crossed the aisle to vote for Rozzi — more than the 12 seats Democrats picked up to flip the House. And then the coup de grâce came as Rozzi declared his independence from both parties.

Is it possible that even the seat of Pennsylvania power is tired of nonstop partisanship and infighting? Have we come to a place where even lawmakers want to get work done more than they want to do battle? It’s a little early to join hands and sing campfire songs, but at least it is an effort to do the job instead of waging a war.

Even if it is a token gesture, we need more of those moves that nod toward playing nice rather than the nonstop arm-wrestling that has become the default position.

In Washington, the House continued to squabble over the speaker’s gavel in a second day of voting — something that hasn’t happened in 100 years.

Perhaps the biggest shock from that polarized battery of Pennsylvania politics is that it is a little less charged than Washington. Congress should take note of that and be ashamed.