HARRISBURG — A new legislative session started Tuesday in Harrisburg, kicking off a two-year period that will likely feature debates over transit funding, the size of the budget, marijuana legalization, and more.
But first, state House and Senate lawmakers had to elect chamber leaders and pass key rules that govern their behavior and influence how power is wielded in the commonwealth.
In the state Senate, President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R., Westmoreland) was easily reelected to her role, as was expected in a chamber under firm GOP control.
Democrats have a one-seat majority in the state House and started the session down a member after state Rep. Matthew Gergley (D., Allegheny) had a medical emergency during the holidays.
That meant the chamber was tied, and Democrats couldn’t elect their chosen leader without some GOP cooperation. Ultimately they got it, and Speaker Joanna McClinton (D., Philadelphia) was reelected to her role with little fanfare.
In a similar situation two years ago, a small group of powerful Republicans used Democratic vacancies to elect a speaker of their choice. The situation devolved into a bitter partisan struggle that left the legislature unable to function for three months, and contributed to a relatively slow and testy two years of legislating.
Neither caucus, however, was interested in another public battle Tuesday.
Reflecting on the rough start in 2023, state House Minority Leader Jesse Topper (R., Bedford) said, “I don't know if that worked out all that well … for anybody.”
Added Majority Leader Matt Bradford (D., Montgomery), “I think we are all wiser and in a better place for the experience.”
That mutual desire to avoid another standoff led to closed-door negotiations over chamber rules ahead of McClinton’s election.
Those talks led to a few minority party-friendly tweaks to the rules that increased Republicans' voice on committees and reduced the number of legislative tools the Democratic majority can use to quickly end politically inconvenient debates.
Republicans control the state Senate 27-22, with one vacancy in a safe Republican district. The vacancy aside, that’s the same balance the chamber had last session.
Democrats maintained their one-seat state House majority in November, though caucus spokesperson Beth Rementer told Spotlight PA that Gergley will likely be out “for some time,” leaving the chamber effectively tied.
Relatively smooth leadership elections
Caucus leaders in the state House were locked in private negotiations over both the speaker selection and chamber rules until late Monday evening, sources told Spotlight PA.
When it came time to vote, the chamber initially tied on a speaker, with McClinton receiving the vote of every Democrat and Topper receiving the vote of every Republican in a roll call.
Topper then withdrew his name from consideration and called for an immediate vote on the speakership. With just one candidate for speaker, Chief Clerk Brooke Wheeler called for a rare up-or-down voice vote on McClinton’s candidacy for the post, which she won, although it wasn’t unanimous. When Wheeler asked for the nays, a loud cry of “no” erupted from the GOP backbench.
In a voice vote, no roll call is taken; rather, lawmakers on the floor yell aye or no. It is typically saved for uncontroversial motions, like adjournment, because without a roll call, it’s impossible to know how each legislator voted.
That means any Republicans who feared political blowback for supporting a Democratic speaker would be safe from criticism. One Republican lost his primary last year after backing former state Rep. Mark Rozzi (D., Berks) for the position.
The implications of the maneuver weren’t lost on conservative critics. State Rep. Barb Gleim (R., Cumberland) tried to ask for a roll call vote on McClinton but wasn’t recognized by Wheeler.
“It's important to my constituents that they know what my vote was because, in a voice vote, they have no idea,” Gleim told Spotlight PA of her request for a roll call.
She added that she and a number of other GOP colleagues submitted notes for the record of who they backed for speaker.
What do the rules do?
Chamber rules are important because they set the guidelines lawmakers follow while passing legislation.
They cover everything from the size, number, and partisan makeup of legislative committees; to the step-by-step process to pass a bill; to etiquette when speaking on a chamber floor.
While rules don’t typically change significantly from session to session, small tweaks can make a big difference. For instance, state House Democrats passed a new definition of “majority” in 2023 that helped them run the chamber during a string of absences. They also made a few tweaks to the rules to empower the minority party, though the changes have had little impact.
Good-government groups often lobby for changes to the rules, like ending committee chairs’ abilities to single-handedly block legislation.
This year, state House Democrats also used the rules as a bargaining chip in getting Republicans to back McClinton’s speakership.
Which rules changed this session?
No major rule changes occurred in the state Senate. Democrats wanted to adopt stricter financial transparency measures and to match the state House’s rule for sexual harassment reporting, but GOP lawmakers voted to send the proposals to committee.
State House leaders, meanwhile, passed several rule changes. Among the biggest was the addition of three new committees: Energy, Communications and Technology, and Intergovernmental Affairs.
That change was of particular interest to Democrats. The caucus has historically distributed chairs by seniority, but due to a wave of retirements, it had to pick new committee chairs from among a large class of lawmakers first elected in 2018. Deciding which lawmakers would get a promotion to one of these powerful posts caused internal turmoil in recent weeks.
Topper argued that the new committees could also spread out the workload and reduce legislative log jams on some weighty topics.
The new rules included a number of small tweaks for Republicans’ benefit. They remove a definition of “majority” that aided Democrats during absences by essentially barring Republicans from using a temporary majority to seize power. They also prevent the majority from tabling minority floor amendments as a group, rather than voting on each individually. And they limit when the majority can use a controversial parliamentary maneuver, known as moving the previous question, which immediately ends debate.
The rules also make it easier for the minority to attempt to override a committee chair who refuses to move a particular bill, by employing what is known as a discharge petition.
Democrats frequently sought to use discharge petitions while they were in the minority. At the time, the rule was toothless because committee chairs could circumvent it by referring bills to other committees.
Last session, Democrats passed rules that got rid of that referral loophole while also raising the bar from 25 signatures total to 25 from each party needed for a petition. Republicans never mustered enough support to kick a bill out of committee under that scenario.
The new rules lowered the bar for a discharge resolution back to 25 signatures while restoring the referral loophole.
“There are a lot of tools that the majority has at their disposal under any set of rules. That's why they are the majority,” Topper said. “But there's also a way to make the process, in our opinion, more transparent, and, quite frankly, lead to a more deliberative process.”
What legislation is on the table this session?
One of the biggest things lawmakers left unfinished in the last legislative session was a deal to provide additional funding to Pennsylvania's transit agencies. The largest, Philadelphia’s SEPTA, has warned of service cuts and fare hikes if more recurring funding doesn’t come through.
The issue is a priority for Democrats, but Republicans have signaled they’re open to working on it as long as the funding deal includes money for roads and comes with a dedicated revenue stream.
That revenue could come from regulation and taxation of skill games — slot-machine-like terminals that currently operate in a legal gray area. The issue is politically complicated, but members of both parties and chambers support regulation.
GOP leaders also say they want to pass more economic development measures while limiting budget growth.
Democrats, meanwhile, remain hopeful they can move a long-stalled amendment that would allow victims of child sexual abuse to sue the perpetrators. They also say they want to continue talks on legalizing recreational marijuana.
In floor speeches, McClinton, Topper, and Bradford each said they hoped Tuesday would signify a reset after a relatively unproductive, acrimonious session.
“Anything is possible,” McClinton said. “And I look forward to working with all of you over the next two years to do the things that seem the hardest.”
Taking in the whole day, Bradford called Tuesday a “feel-good story.” Both parties saw the long-term reality and decided to govern accordingly, he said.
“If we just sat here looking at each other for a couple of months, that would put us at a huge disadvantage.”
