The next, best hope for unsnarling issues that brought the Pennsylvania House to a standstill comes Tuesday, when Allentown Rep. Peter Schweyer and five other lawmakers sit down to talk.
A lot is at stake.
The Pennsylvania House represents half the lawmaking machinery in Harrisburg. Without it functioning, progress on potential laws — affecting everything from education to law enforcement to elections and taxes — will be slowed.
That was illustrated Friday afternoon when the Senate canceled sessions during the weeks of Jan. 23 and Jan. 30 in part because “the House has not yet organized their chamber” and “our options for fully addressing legislative issues are limited,” said a spokesperson for Republicans who hold a majority in that chamber.
The group who might suffer the most are victims of child sexual abuse waiting for the legal right to file lawsuits against long-ago abusers.
They are a top concern of Speaker Mark Rozzi, who took the top job in the House on Jan. 3 and is a child abuse victim himself.
He announced the group of six earlier this week. Its charge is “breaking the partisan gridlock and proposing a path forward for the House” to finally amend the state constitution to allow lawsuits by those victims.
The proposed amendment is likely the top issue for the House. Others include Rozzi’s political party status, making rules to allow the House to operate, and even the ability of House members to get used to the fact that their chamber is very closely divided.
The group of six has been dubbed “Speaker’s Workgroup to Move Pennsylvania Forward.”
Schweyer said he hopes it can accomplish its task next week.
“There is no reason the seven of us, including the speaker, can’t figure this out,” he said.
Other members are Democratic Reps. Morgan Cephas of Philadelphia and Tim Briggs of Montgomery County, and Republican Reps. Valerie Gaydos of Allegheny County, Paul Schemel of Franklin County and Jason Ortitay, whose district includes parts of Allegheny and Washington counties.
Schemel sounded a positive note this week when asked about the future of the House, given the closeness of its current 101-99 Republican advantage and the real possibility Democrats could have a 102-101 advantage in the near future after three vacant seats are filled.
A Pennsylvania court ruled Friday that special elections to fill the three vacancies in Democratic-leaning state House districts will be held next month.
Schemel said a new dynamic might be in place between the parties with “hanging-by-a-thread” majorities.
“There is a possibility for a different path forward,” he said. “I think members will start to reflect on, ‘Well, what can we get done?'”
On Tuesday, the group will start talking about rules that might get the House functioning in special session again.
No real action has taken place since the 115-85 vote that elevated Rozzi, a Berks County Democrat, to speaker on Jan. 3.
Breakdown over rules
Gov. Tom Wolf called for a special session of the Legislature to deal with the long-pending constitutional amendment to help bring justice for child sex abuse victms.
When Rozzi called that special session to order on Monday, it immediately broke down without rules.
Rep. Mike Schlossberg, a South Whitehall Township Democrat, said examples of must-have rules include ones on the makeup of committees, how amendments are carried out, and whether votes have to be simple majorities or two-thirds.
Rozzi took over the chamber pledging to function as an independent, even though he was still registered as a Democrat. He faced a situation where Republicans and Democrats had no agreement on rules.
“There were clearly two different versions of the rules, but neither version was so outlandish you couldn’t compromise,” Schlossberg said.
Repeated attempts to reach Rozzi or a spokesperson in his office were not successful.
The constitutional amendment
There’s a time crunch concerning the proposed amendment.
Proposed constitutional amendments have to be approved by the Legislature twice, in different sessions, and then approved by voters. The proposed amendment cited by Wolf was passed last session, and if lawmakers can approve it soon — Wolf has used the date of Jan. 27 — it can be placed on the May 16 primary election ballot.
Schlossberg is doubtful, because of the ongoing disagreements.
“I do not envision a scenario where this gets on the May ballot,” he said.
Mike Straub, spokesperson for House Republican Leader Bryan Cutler, said Cutler “has made no secrets that he wants to address these constitutional amendment questions in as timely a manner as possible.”
A significant complication is that there are two bills that include the same proposed constitutional amendment.
The one referred to by Wolf is a standalone, one-amendment bill. The outgoing governor said the “very tight schedule can only be accomplished under the specific circumstances of a single, straightforward amendment.”
On Wednesday, though, the Senate passed a package of several proposed constitutional amendments, including the one on child sex abuse lawsuits and another on voter ID.
The Senate vote was 28-20, with Northampton County Democrat Lisa Boscola joining all Republicans voting in favor of the package.
Straub said Republican House members don’t necessarily embrace the Senate action.
“We never said we were desperate to put it in a package,” Straub said. “That is something they have done.”
It was, he said, one more reason for the House to get back into gear.
Late Friday, СŷƵ Republican Reps. Ryan Mackenzie and his mother Milou Mackenzie issued a statement that said they were among 20 House members who sent a letter to Rozzi asking him to call the House into session to consider the amendment package.
Rozzi political registration
An intriguing question among the 200 House members is Rozzi’s future in the top spot.
He was elected to the top position with the support of 16 Republicans, including Cutler, and was nominated for the spot by Blair County Republican Rep. Jim Gregory.
But Gregory earlier this week called for Rozzi to resign the position, saying he had broken a promise to switch his political registration from Democrat to independent — a promise that won support from some Republicans to elect him.
“It was the agreement,” Cutler said of the switch referred to by Gregory. “We supported Rep. Gregory when he brought this idea forward.”
Schlossberg said he has seen no sign Rozzi intends to make the switch.
“He has told members that his intention is to remain a Democrat,” Schlossberg said.
For Schweyer, the question of Rozzi’s political affiliation is important.
“But what really matters is what we are able to do in the next two years,” he added.
Morning Call Capitol correspondent Ford Turner can be reached at fturner@mcall.com
