The PA House continues to be at standstill since the Democrats and Republicans were not able to agree to operating rules for the chamber. As such no legislative standing committees can be established and bills cannot officially be introduced. Speaker Mark Rozzi (D-Berks) has embarked on a statewide listening tour to meet with the public and good government groups to address the gridlock and invited members of the Speaker’s Workgroup to Move Pennsylvania Forward to join him.

Many insiders believe the outcome of the three special elections (House Districts 32, 34 and 35) scheduled for Tuesday, February 7 will finally end the stalemate. With the Commonwealth Court’s ruling this month that all these elections may take place in February, it is anticipated that the Democrats will regain their seated majority in the House. Right now, the House is not set to return to session until Monday, February 27 and a more detailed session schedule for the rest of the spring has yet been released.

In the meantime, the House R’s have basically thrown their hands up in the air and named their standing committee chairs even though the committees have not been set up. A list of those committee chairs can be found here. At least one of the Republican chairs will change soon as Rep Linda Culver, named as the Republican Chair for the House Children and Youth Committee, is the front runner for the state Senate seat vacated by Republican Sen John Gordner’s retirement. The special election for that seat was Tuesday, Jan 31.

The Senate has started the new legislative term in a more conventional manner. Chamber rules have been passed, committee chairs have been named, bills have started to be introduced and the chamber has even voted on a few pieces of legislation. The Senate session schedule has changed a bit due to the pause on the Larry Krasner impeachment proceedings and the lack of legislative action in the House. The updated Senate schedule can be found below.

January            3, 6 (NV), 9, 10, 11, 17, 18
February          27, 28
March              1, 6, 7, 8
April                24, 25, 26
May                 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10
June                 5, 6, 7, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30

Governor Josh Shapiro and Lt. Governor Austin Davis have both sworn into office. Members of Shapiro’s cabinet who will require Senate confirmation have all been official nominated for their respective offices so that lengthy process can begin. Attached to this email is a list of Shapiro’s executive leadership team along with brief biographies. 

Governor Shapiro has signed several new executive orders, most of which follow up on promises made during the campaign.

• January 18 – Elimination of college degree requirement for nearly 65,000 state jobs – article
• January 20 – Implementation of a 3-part ethics package for employees under the Governor’s jurisdiction – new article
• January 24 - Creating the Office of Transformation and Opportunity – press release

Governor Shapiro continues to build out his team — primarily at the deputy secretary level, etc., — however, we do know that Shapiro will present his first ever budget address on Tuesday, March 7.