The Pennsylvania House of Representatives began a recent legislative session on Tuesday, just like the previous session, under conditions favoring partisan gridlock.
Instead, a dose of pragmatism and rule changes intended to give the minority Republican caucus a chance to advance its legislative agenda helped the chamber get off to an simple and systematic start to the 2025-2026 session.
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Chief Justice Debra Todd presided over the swearing-in of 202 state representatives, including 16 first-term lawmakers, split evenly between Republicans and Democrats, as the session began in the absence of one Democratic incumbent.
Speaker Joanna McClinton (R-Philadelphia) returned to the position after GOP leader Jesse Topper (R-Bedford) withdrew his nomination for Speaker of the House after a deadlocked vote between the two candidates.
Topper told reporters Tuesday that withdrawing from the fight for the House speaker’s gavel would spare the House and its voters a repeat of 2023, when the lack of a clear majority and the selection of a compromise speaker resulted in months of inaction.
“We believed that by doing so we could not only move the House forward, but also adopt policies that would empower minorities and again enable a more decision-making body,” Topper said. “And we believe it was the right path to work for Pennsylvanians.”
On the other side of the Capitol, Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R-Westmoreland) took a more partisan tone in her opening remarks but acknowledged the need to work with Democrats in a divided legislature.
In the November elections, Democrats in the House of Representatives retained a one-seat majority. But state Rep. Matthew Gergley (D-Allegheny) suffered a sedate illness on New Year’s Eve that will keep him out of the Capitol for the foreseeable future, House Democratic Leader Matt Bradford told reporters on Tuesday.
That leaves the House evenly divided, with a 101-101 split between Democrats and Republicans.
In January 2023, a similar situation gave Republicans a fleeting majority and the chamber was unable to elect a speaker. Republican group brokered the contract support Berks County MP Mark Rozzi in his ultimately unfulfilled promise of independence. Rozzi held the position for two months, until a special election restored the 102-seat Democratic majority and McClinton was elected the first woman and first black Speaker of the House.
In remarks on the House floor Tuesday afternoon, McClinton cited the narrowly divided House’s success in passing legislation providing increasing property tax relief and rent reductions for seniors, improving women’s health by requiring insurers to pay for breast cancer screenings and establishing statewide education funding parity framework.
“We cannot predict the difficulties that will come, but one thing we know is that if we come here willing and with our sleeves rolled up to collaborate and work together, nothing is impossible,” McClinton said.
Kim Ward was re-elected president of the Pennsylvania Senate and broadly delivered the Republican agenda
Bradford said in remarks on the House floor that even with a 102-vote majority, he advised members of his caucus to be humble in their approach to the other party. In Gergley’s absence, he repeated his advice.
“We have to be humble and smart,” Bradford said. “I would like to thank and congratulate the recent leader of the Republican Party who opened the door to this type of cooperation. You’re a good man, Mr. Topper, and I thank you.
New rules
The House approved the set of operating rules by a 196-6 vote. The most critical changes in the regulations include the removal of the definition of the majority party and increasing the number of minority members in the House’s standing committees.
Under the rules of the previous session, the “majority party” was defined as the party that won the most elections for the 203 seats in the House for that session. As a result, the Democratic Caucus retained control of the chamber on several occasions, despite having the same or fewer seats than the Republicans.
“All our rules depend on who has the majority at any given time, right?” – Topper said in a conversation with the media. “I think all these rule changes just reflect the divided nature of the chamber. This will allow us to take a more thoughtful approach to how we operate. All the rule changes have been focused on this.”
Bradford said it was clear that concessions would be necessary given Gergley’s absence, and while everyone in the House hoped for his speedy recovery, they recognized they had a duty to do the business of the people.
“That’s what we did today,” Bradford said. “Honestly, I think it’s a feel-good story where both sides acknowledge that reality and manage it appropriately.”
He added that the situation is fundamentally different from 2023, when an incumbent Democrat was re-elected despite his death a few weeks before the election, and two other Democrats resigned to take senior positions. Republicans blocked McClinton’s election and nominated Rozzi, with the goal of depriving Democrats of their majority.
“I think everyone realized that these political games didn’t go well for those who went down that route,” Bradford said. “In hindsight, it wasn’t a good idea. So I think we’re all smarter and in a better place to gain experience.”
In addition to the majority being the majority, the rules give the minority party an additional member on each standing committee, increasing the number of partisans to 14–12. Topper said it would require the majority to get one more vote to advance the legislation out of committee.
The recent rules also modify the process by which lawmakers can operate a discharge resolution to send a bill out of committee for a vote. Under the venerable rules, a petition required 25 signatures from each party to be successful, making it virtually useless. The recent regulations simply require 25 signatures on a discharge petition.
The number of standing committees will escalate from 24 to 27 with the addition of committees on communications and technology, energy and intergovernmental affairs and operations. Topper said the expansion would reduce the number of bills some committees currently deal with.
The way amendments to bills are considered will also change to ensure more amendments are considered.
Overall, Topper expressed hope that the changes and a pragmatic approach to scrutiny in the chamber will lead to a more productive session.
“There are too many serious issues facing Pennsylvania to not be able to participate in the session just because the numbers don’t look what one side or the other wants,” he said. “It’s not a hobby. We have to get in and act. We believe the new regulations reflect this.”
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