but missed what happened at the end of their day (which occurred right around the time of the 3rd vote in the U.S. House before they eventually voted to adjourn). I had left off where Ward was elected Pro tempore of the state Senate (she belongs in prison).
The Philly Inquirer had this -
Mark Rozzi, a Democrat-turned-independent, is now speaker of the Pa. House after a surprise vote
Pennsylvania House lawmakers elected Rep. Mark Rozzi speaker of the House.
by Andrew Seidman and Gillian McGoldrick
Updated Jan 3, 2023
HARRISBURG — Democrats and more than a dozen Republicans threw their support behind a consensus candidate for speaker of the Pennsylvania House on Tuesday, a surprise move some lawmakers said would help bring unity to the state capital. House lawmakers elected Rep. Mark Rozzi speaker of the House, elevating a veteran Democratic lawmaker from Berks County who said Tuesday he would govern as an independent. Some Republicans backed Rozzi even though the GOP currently holds a slight majority in the House. “As many of you know, I’ve never been an ideologue,” Rozzi said on the House floor late Tuesday afternoon. He added he would not caucus with either party.
(snip)
The speaker vote, held hours after members were sworn into office, followed weeks of uncertainty regarding which party actually controlled the chamber in Harrisburg. Democrats won 102 seats in November – giving them an apparent edge in the 203-member House for the first time in more than a decade. But three vacancies in Democratic-held seats left the party with just 99 members to Republicans’ 101.
(snip)
The power struggle was significant in part because House Republicans indicated that with control of the chamber, they might advance constitutional amendments that the GOP-led legislature had already passed in July. The amendments — including one that would impose stricter voter ID requirements and another that would make it easier for lawmakers to reject administrative regulations — need to pass both chambers again in order to make the ballot for voters to render their judgment. The governor isn’t involved in the amendment process. With Rozzi as speaker, it seems unlikely that any controversial amendment will come up for a vote.
(snip)
Rozzi’s election as speaker was reminiscent of the start of the 2007 legislative session, when Democrats held a 102-seat majority but couldn’t muster enough votes to win the speakership. That year, most Democrats and a half dozen Republicans voted in favor of Denny O’Brien, a moderate Philadelphia Republican. Among the lawmakers who helped broker that power-sharing agreement was Shapiro, then a state representative from Montgomery County. Republicans had been trying since Christmas to induce at least one Democratic lawmaker to switch parties, according to a source familiar with the matter. And a vote for a Democratic speaker hardly seemed likely heading into Tuesday.
(snip)
https://www.inquirer.com/politics/pennsylvania/mark-rozzi-democrat-elected-speaker-pennsylvania-house-20230103.html
No paywall
That's like a reverse of what happened 15 years ago but going to our side (in the form a (D) declaring themselves an (I)) to become Speaker vs back then when we supported a "moderate" (R) for Speaker despite having the majority).
The issue would be how the court cases play out and whether the court might consider the filings "moot" now.
I think the key thing is to keep the extremist legislation off the floor AND torpedo the state Constitutional Amendments that would ban abortions & institute their draconian Voter ID nonsense that already passed in one legislative session and only needed to pass this year's legislative session (it would in the Senate) to trigger it to then go on the ballot as a referendum (usually scheduled by the GOP loons during a low-turnout primary), to change the state Constitution, and do an end-run around Shapiro.
= new reply since forum marked as read