New Pa. House speaker vows nonpartisanship
"How the heck is this going to work?" he asked at first.
HARRISBURG - Rep. Dennis M. O'Brien, the Republican who was elected House speaker two weeks ago with mostly Democratic support, agreed he would not raise campaign cash for lawmakers of either party as part of the deal that got him the position.
In return, Democratic leaders said they would not attempt to install a new speaker during the two-year legislative session that began this month, O'Brien told the Associated Press in a wide-ranging interview in his Harrisburg office yesterday. Democrats hold a 102-101 majority in the House and contributed all but six of the votes that elected O'Brien, 105-97, on Jan. 2.
Michael Piecuch, formerly a House Judiciary Committee attorney, is O'Brien's chief of staff, and a second-term Democrat from Montgomery County, Rep. Josh Shapiro, will fill the newly created post of deputy speaker, O'Brien said. Shapiro recruited O'Brien to run for speaker against Rep. John M. Perzel (R., Phila.).
O'Brien referred to Shapiro several times as "my new best friend" and said Shapiro will help him get input from rank-and-file members. Numerous questions remain about the new power structure, he said, and there will be a "sorting-out process."
"Obviously, this is breaking new ground, so there had to be some discussions," O'Brien said. "Although those discussions were not detailed. Literally, walking up to the floor of the House, I looked at Josh and said, 'How the heck is this thing going to work?' "
O'Brien, of Philadelphia, said he wants to make the speaker's office more independent from the two parties - even going so far as to install separate computer and phone systems - and will be appointing staff members from both parties. He categorically ruled out changing parties but said he does not plan to routinely caucus with either party.
He said the Democratic leader, Rep. Bill DeWeese of Greene County, wants to be speaker eventually.
In an effort to make the House's business less secretive, O'Brien said he wants to meet with leaders of both parties before voting sessions every day and have regular contact with Senate leadership.
"What we're going to try to do is minimize the surprises," O'Brien said.
Two dozen incumbent lawmakers were defeated last year, and the high turnover was widely attributed to backlash from the 2005 pay raise law. O'Brien voted for the law and collected the money immediately in the form of unvouchered expenses, before deciding to give it back.
He suggested Tuesday that the pay-raise law's repeal - which left lawmakers with only annual cost-of-living raises - may not have been the last word.
"I think compensation of members is something that we will have to address at some point in the future for the most appropriate way of fashioning that," he said. "We want to encourage the best and brightest of Pennsylvania to be part of the political process."
O'Brien also revealed that on Friday he signed a letter reappointing Jeff Coy, a Democrat, to the state Gaming Control Board. Perzel had previously announced that former Rep. Mark McNaughton, a Republican, was his choice to fill the speaker's slot on the board.
The Republican leader, Rep. Sam Smith of Jefferson County, has not announced his appointment but has informed McNaughton it will not be him.