by KYW's Tony Romeo
The new speaker of the Pennsylvania House says just because he’s a member of the minority party doesn’t mean he won’t have clout.
Republican Dennis O’Brien (Philadelphia) finds himself in a most unusual situation: he’s speaker of the House, even though the Democrats have a one-seat edge in that legislative body.
But O’Brien used a Pennsylvania Press Club speech on Monday to make it clear that he does not intend to be marginalized by that situation. He says being a speaker of the minority party gives him the opportunity to assert independent authority and forge consensus on difficult issues:
“So those who see only weakness in the speaker model, do not confuse independence with ineffectiveness. To those who seek only to preserve the status quo, the public has spoken and continues to speak loudly: no more.”
O’Brien says his role as a speaker of the minority party represents a “paradigm shift” in House governance, one where the speaker will not give up authority but instead will administer it fairly across the board.
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