HARRISBURG – A Republican member of the PA House Speaker’s Workgroup to Move PA Forward is talking about their work. Allegheny County Rep. Valerie Gaydos said the bipartisan group of three Republicans and three Democrats met several times and is off to a good start. She said discussions have centered on crafting an agreeable set of operating rules and to find solutions on how to best bridge the partisan divide. She added that the group has coalesced around a first draft of proposed operating rules for a special session. That report was presented to House Speaker Mark Rozzi for consideration. The next step will be for the group to review the draft and meet to discuss any revisions, additions or clarifications before presenting it to both leaders and their caucuses, who will ultimately be the ones who will accept or reject the work group’s proposal. If the proposed special session rules can be agreed upon by all parties, she anticipates getting back to work soon to begin working on the general session rules, including input from the listening sessions. One listening session takes place this evening at Carnegie Mellon’s Simmons Auditorium in Pittsburgh and another this Friday at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.
REP. VALERIE GAYDOS