The Pennsylvania state House re-elected Democrat Joanna McClinton as its leader Tuesday, avoiding a partisan fight even though the absence of an Allegheny County Democrat resulted in a tied chamber.
In an initial vote, McClinton faced a challenge from Bedford County Republican Jesse Topper. Both received 101 votes in the 203-member House, with Democrats losing their one-seat advantage because McKeesport Democrat Matt Gergely was hospitalized after suffering a serious medical incident over the holidays.
But moments after the vote, Topper bowed out, telling the clerk, “I rise to withdraw my name from consideration and move to an immediate vote for speaker.”
Democrats applauded the move, which fulfilled indications that Republicans would not contest the Democrats’ leadership in the lower chamber. A deadlock could have stalled proceedings, perhaps until Gergely took his seat.
It is unclear what the prospects for his return are: His district office declined to comment Tuesday, saying that updates on his condition would be provided House Democratic spokespeople when details became available.
"We’re preparing for him not to be here in Harrisburg for some time," said Elizabeth Rementer, a spokesperson for Democratic leader Matt Bradford.
Democrats acknowledged the absence with a round of applause urged on by McClinton.
“Let the Gergely family know that in this time we are all praying and rooting for them,” she said. “Although Matt is not here, let his family know how much this chamber loves him and can’t wait for him to get back.”
Bradford, of Montgomery Count,y struck a similar theme, observing that House members had “a heavy heart … where we are missing one of our own today. I want to recognize that we have a closely divided chamber, a chamber made even more divided by that absence.”
“Our chamber proved today that it can cooperate and it can operate, and that is a bipartisan achievement that many did not think we could achieve,” he added.
And McClinton said she hoped to see more cross-aisle collaboration during the 208th legislative session.
“It's important for us now more than ever, as our nation heals from the scars of this last brutal election cycle, that we show people that we didn't just earn their votes last November, but we take responsibly and seriously the oath of office,” McClinton said. Members of both parties, she said, had an obligation “not just to sit here and point fingers, but to get into our committees, to get into our caucuses, to meet with delegations across the state and find a way forward.”
Topper later told reporters that he bowed out of the Speaker race because he learned from mistakes of the past session, when a divided House stalled under former Speaker Mark Rozzi.
“I don't know [if] that worked out all that well in 2023 for anybody, particularly the operations of the House,” Topper told reporters. “We looked at all options on the table throughout the days since Rep. Gergely had his medical condition, and this was the way that we felt we could not only move the House forward, but also adopt rules that empowered the minority and again allowed for a more deliberative body.”
Republicans arguably did come away with some rule changes that could help a minority party.
Discharge petitions — which are used to move bills to a floor vote when they have been bottled up in a committee — will only require support from 25 House members. The rule previously required 25 members from each party, a threshold that frustrated Republican efforts to move a voter ID bill last year, and that Topper called "somewhat impractical" on Tuesday.
The new rules also add members to committees — 14 Democrats and 12 Republicans — with just 13 votes required to move bills.
Other procedural changes make it harder to table amendments, Topper said, so that "those amendments have their day on the floor.”
The new House will also sport three new committees, which control which bills make it to floor votes, debating and sometimes amending them in the process. One, that focuses on energy issues, was spun off from a committee that combined those issues with environmental protection.
State Rep. Joe Ciresi (D-Montgomery) told WESA that such changes make it easier to address often conflicting interests, as can arise when energy production and environmental concerns are at odds.
“You're mixing two things that are sometimes against each other — so how do you make this fit?” Ciresi said.
Ciresi himself chairs a new Communications and Technology committee, which he said is needed to keep a legislative focus on rapidly changing technology.
“As we look at emerging AI, it is an area that is growing constantly and we need to be able to grow quickly and understand the technology is coming toward us and then how to legislate that technology," he said.
A third committee, Intergovernmental Affairs and Operations. was also added to the House roster.
Allegheny County House members hold leadership positions in some committees. Among them are state representatives Dan Frankel and Dan Deasy, who will resume their positions as chair of the Health and Liquor Control committees, respectively. Brandon Markosek assumes control of the Housing and Economic Development committee.
