Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard
Link copied to clipboard

Pa. House passes a resolution declaring 2023 ‘Taylor Swift Era’

One Republican who was against the resolution called it “kind of silly for us to do here in the House of Representatives" and then sang part of a Swift song to explain his opposition.

Taylor Swift performs during the first of three Eras Tour shows at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia in May.
Taylor Swift performs during the first of three Eras Tour shows at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia in May.Read moreElizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

The state House of Representatives on Wednesday voted 103-100 to pass a resolution “recognizing 2023 as the Taylor Swift Era in Pennsylvania.”

The resolution was introduced last Friday by three Democrats: Rep. Danielle Friel Otten of Chester County, Rep. Jennifer M. O’Mara of Delaware County, and Rep. Johanny Cepeda-Freytiz of Berks County, where Swift was born and raised.

Most of the 103 “yes” votes came from Democrats. Swift endorsed Joe Biden for president in 2020.

“I really love that we can have fun while we work, so thank you for that,” Cepeda-Freytiz told her colleagues in the House chamber before the vote.

Rep. Russ Diamond, a Republican from Lebanon County, spoke against the resolution, saying it was “kind of silly for us to do here in the House of Representatives.”

Diamond, who has a music-related business, mentioned that he had worked with Swift when she was still a resident of Berks County, and he praised her huge successes.

However, Diamond said Swift, famous for her breakup songs, “broke up with Pennsylvania by moving out” — she now lives in Tennessee.

“She crossed the border, she turned around and she looked at us and said ...” at which point Diamond belted out part of a Swift song — “we [are] never, ever, ever getting back together” — to the amusement of his GOP colleagues.

Rep. Maureen E. Madden, a Democrat from Monroe County, said Swift was worthy of recognition because she has used her fame to promote issues important to Democrats, including women’s rights and protecting the environment. Madden highlighted Swift’s influence on young people with the singer’s recent call for fans to register to vote.

Vote.org reported a surge of more than 35,000 new voter registrations after Swift urged fans in an Instagram post to register at Vote.org.

Rep. Mike Jones, a York County Republican, spoke next and said: “I was fully prepared to vote ‘yes’ until the last speaker, so I’ll be a ‘no,’” he said about Madden’s remarks.

The resolution says that Swift announced her “Eras” in November 2022, “[a]nd from that moment on, all of us, whether we knew it or not, joined her on that journey in one way or another.”