New Pa. House majority leader sees bipartisan opportunities

HARRISBURG - At Gov. Wolf's inaugural last month, new House Majority Leader Dave Reed was among those seated in the A-list section outside the Capitol.

After the ceremony, a state official turned to Reed, looking for a program. Reed told him he did not know where there was an extra one.

The official, whom Reed declined to name, responded by saying, "If you want your boss, the governor, to be successful, you'd better know where the programs are."

Without missing a beat, Reed replied, "My apologies, sir."

It happens that way for Reed - a lot. At 36, he more closely resembles the star athlete who just got named president of his college fraternity than a six-term lawmaker just elected leader of the Republican House majority in the nation's sixth most populous state.

"It's something I've gotten used to," Reed said in his mahogany-paneled office just off the Capitol Rotunda.

Reed takes over when the GOP holds the largest House majority (119-84) since the 1950s, the Senate is solidly in Republican hands, and a Democrat occupies the governor's office.

After four years under Gov. Tom Corbett, known in the General Assembly for his shortcomings as a communicator and deal-maker, Reed thinks the new dynamic might lead to improved prospects of getting big-ticket legislation through.

Reed, who has been described as a "nonideological pragmatist," said he sees plenty of common ground with Democrats to advance meaningful bills. Some of his ideas sound downright liberal - such as ending corporate welfare and legalizing medical marijuana - and reducing school property taxes, more fairly funding schools, and addressing the pension crisis.

"We want to work with the governor to bring those issues to the fore," Reed told journalists, lobbyists, and others at the Pennsylvania Press Club last week.

To do so, he will need to bring together factions in the Republican caucus ranging from moderates from the southeast to the tea party wing from rural regions in the center and west - something Reed's predecessor, current Speaker Mike Turzai (R., Allegheny), had difficulty doing.

"I always thought of Dave as a reasonable guy who was willing to listen to different people's opinions," said Rep. Gene DiGirolamo (R., Bucks), a moderate from Bensalem who took Reed on a tour of his district last summer. "He's not just trying to push an agenda, he looks for ways to find a solution and compromise."

Rep. Steve Bloom (R., Cumberland) one of the caucus's more conservative members, agreed. "He'll be an inclusive leader," said Bloom. "He's a capable, competent guy."

House Democrats are encouraged by what they have heard from Reed, saying they hope to have a better working relationship with him than they did with Turzai.

"The Republican leader seems to want to govern effectively, focusing on results more than rhetoric," said Bill Patton, spokesman for House Democratic Leader Frank Dermody (D., Allegheny).

After turning 30, Reed began a six-year run as head of the House Republican Campaign Committee, where he delivered the victories that drove up the majority in the House and won him party kudos.

"Dave Reed performed an exemplary job leading the House Republican Campaign Committee," said Rob Gleason, chairman of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania, who believes Reed has a future beyond the state House. "He's a tremendous leader with a bright future ahead of him, and I'm excited to see him in his new leadership role."

Last year in his role as GOP policy chairman, Reed launched an initiative that raised eyebrows on both sides of the aisle.

Seeking ways to address poverty across the state, he convened a traveling bipartisan panel of lawmakers who met with groups in rural and urban areas to come up with solutions.

"Is the American dream out of reach?" Reed asked the Harrisburg luncheon audience. "Some kids don't even know there is an American dream."

For Reed, the issue was personal. He said he was raised in a trailer and waited in food-bank lines as a child.

He grew up in Homer City, a town of just over 1,000 people in Indiana County - known in far-flung locales for the tear gas produced by Non Lethal Technologie Inc., used by foreign governments to suppress protests. His father repaired televisions until he was laid off when Reed was 8.

The family struggled to make ends meet for months, living off unemployment aid and occasional trips to the food pantry. His mother went to work in a grocery store and his father found a new job, only to be laid off again a few years later.

"I saw the government safety net, and it left a positive impression," Reed said.

Even as they struggled to find work, his parents were determined to send Reed and his sister to college, he said.

Reed earned a bachelor's degree in math and economics at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and was elected to the House at 24, fresh from the University of Pennsylvania with a master's degree in government administration.

He embarked on his political career as a Democrat. Homer City, once a union-heavy mining community, was an island of blue in an otherwise red western county. But he found he had no party support to run against the incumbent. He switched to Republican, and knocked the sitting lawmaker out of office.

His time living in West Philadelphia makes Reed a rare leader from rural Pennsylvania who appreciates and understands the needs of the southeastern part of the state - regularly the target of criticism from western lawmakers.

Reed says he hopes the poverty panel's work translates to legislation this session - for instance, addressing the "benefit cliff," when working families make too much money for child care and food stamps, undercutting their ability to make the move to independence.

He also hopes the experience of traveling the state builds a bridge between rural and urban lawmakers. "The idea was to get them out of their comfort zones," Reed said. "People should experience how others live."

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