Harrisburg is still reeling from the last-minute coup pulled by Democrat Bill DeWeese in nominating and securing the election of Republican Dennis O’Brian over former House Speaker John Perzel as the new PA House Speaker. I was in the gallery during the nomination, and even the those in the press corps were surprised.
DeWeese stuck to his game plan, which included preventing both O'Brian and Perzel from addressing the House and stating their respective proposals to initiate House reforms.
The vote elect O’Brian was 105-97, with 6 Republicans joining 99 Democrats. Of the 6 Republicans voting for DeWeese’s pick, 2 were newly sworn in freshmen and the remaining 4 had all lost earlier leadership bids in the Republican Caucus elections held in November.
The new Speaker is promising reforms in the way that the House does business, but an effort to review the House procedures failed Tuesday when DeWeese pushed for adjournment and O’Brian concurred before addressing the issue.
Like DeWeese, O’Brian voted for the infamous pay raise. Both DeWeese and O’Brian voted for the governor’s double-digit Personal Income Tax increase. They both voted to approve slots and both have expressed an interest in expanding gambling. A spokesman from the Commonwealth Foundation stated that O’Brian “is known as a loyal vote for labor unions and trial lawyers”. Governor Rendell weighed in on the selection of the new Speaker and seems pleased with O’Brian.
Speculation that O’Brian may switch parties and become a Democrat only intensified when O’Brian would only state that, “I am a Republican”, when asked about switching parties by the press.
Given the actions by O’Brian on his first day as Speaker, reforms may take a back seat to DeWeese’s agenda.
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