As new legislature takes office debate brews on possible votes

HARRISBURG - The ceremonial start to the 2015-16 legislative session begins Tuesday in the Capitol with the swearing in of House and Senate lawmakers - including nine newcomers from the southeast.

The governor-elect, Democrat Tom Wolf, does not take office until Jan. 20.

What will happen in the intervening weeks is as yet unresolved, with House and Senate leaders saying they are leaving the door open on scheduling voting days while Gov. Corbett is still in office.

The prospect of the GOP-controlled legislature's rushing through controversial bills with a lame-duck Republican governor raised hackles among Democrats last month.

"We still haven't made a final decision," said Drew Crompton, chief counsel to Senate President Joe Scarnati (R., Jefferson). "We are in conversations with the House."

Among the top pieces of legislation on the preinaugural agenda are three items the House and Senate were unable to reach consensus on in the last session: overhauling the state pension system, privatizing state liquor stores, and barring unions from deducting dues from paychecks.

The Republicans' margin of control in the legislature widened in November when the party picked up three additional Senate seats and eight House seats, giving each chamber solid majorities - 119 of the 203 House seats and 30 of the 50 Senate seats - and a new roster of leaders.

But Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa (D., Allegheny) said Friday it would be inappropriate to hold voting days before Wolf takes office.

"Our caucus would be very disappointed if they resort to a tactic of allowing the outgoing governor to be part of a discussion as it relates to new legislation and a new legislature," he said.

Some suggest leaving the calendar open reflects leadership's kowtowing to rank-and-file Republicans who are making it known they want voting days immediately after being sworn in.

State Sen. John Eichelberger (R., Blair) is one of them.

In an op-ed released Friday, he criticized Wolf for "not setting legislative priorities" and urged the Senate leadership to schedule session days immediately to address what he called urgent matters - such as pensions and liquor sales - that have been "held captive for far too long by public-sector unions and others who profit from the status quo."

A spokeswoman for Corbett said the governor would sign any bills he supports that reach his desk this month. He has spoken out in favor of pension reform, liquor privatization, and "paycheck protection."

For his part, Wolf declined to weigh in directly on the session schedule battle, saying through a spokesman only that his "top priority is to move Pennsylvania forward" and to work with the legislature to solve the impending fiscal crisis.

The Department of Revenue released rosier-than-normal figures Friday showing revenue increases of $161 million, or 6 percent above estimates, for December, leaving state coffers up $270 million heading into 2015.

Still, Wolf must tackle a projected $2.2 billion deficit as he prepares his budget address for delivery March 3.

The legislature's swearing-in ceremony takes place at noon on Tuesday. Incoming Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas G. Saylor takes the oath later that day in the Supreme Court chambers in the Capitol.

Joining the legislature are new GOP and Democratic senators from the southeast: Delaware County Council president Tom McGarrigle takes over the seat occupied by departing Sen. Edwin Erickson (R., Delaware); and Art Haywood won the seat left by the resignation of Sen. LeAnna Washington, the Democrat whose district covered parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery Counties.

In the House, new members from the region include Republicans Harry Lewis of Chester County, Tom Quigley of Montgomery County, Jamie Santora of Delaware County, and Craig Staats of Bucks County; and Democrats Leslie Acosta, Jason T. Dawkins, and Michael J. Driscoll of Philadelphia.

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