I don’t want to go overboard in my enthusiasm for an unusual happening on the first day of the new legislative term in Harrisburg, but we don’t get many opportunities for optimism when it comes to our quarreling lawmakers. This may be one of those rare moments.

As 99 Democrats and 16 Republicans, including Rep. Doyle Heffley, R-Carbon, voted last week to make Berks County legislator Mark Rozzi the next speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, it took many political observers, including me, by surprise.

One of the first things that Rozzi did was to announce to his colleagues that he will no longer caucus with the Democrats, even though he was re-elected as a Democrat. He is now a self-proclaimed independent.

Rozzi, a survivor of sexual abuse by a Roman Catholic priest when he was 13, and the legislature’s leading advocate to create a civil window to bring lawsuits against abusers, has pledged to set politics aside in his new role as leader of the 203-seat House.

Of course, this is easier said than done, especially when you have so many of these legislators who are politically motivated. The good will he may have gotten evaporated quickly when he supported Gov. Tom Wolf’s call for a special session of the legislature today to try to prepare the constitutional amendment on widening the child abuse civil window in time to be on the May primary ballots. To allow this, the legislation must be passed no later than Jan. 27. Rozzi announced that no other legislation will be considered until this action is taken.

With the intense polarization that has been going on in our nation between Republicans and Democrats, we are at a point in our history where we must seriously ask whether these officeholders are acting in the best interests of their parties or in our best interests.

Out of curiosity, I examined 100 ads from the November General Election for Pennsylvania House and Senate candidates. Not a single ad ever mentioned the candidate’s party or that the candidate, if elected, would slavishly follow his or her party’s line.

Regrettably, however, this is what most candidates wind up doing. To do otherwise would equal political suicide. That is why we have so many votes where every member of one party votes “yes” while every member of the other party votes “no.”

Whenever there is a new batch of legislators, we constituents find renewed hope that maybe this time it will be different. There are calls for bipartisanship, for collaboration and consensus-building. Not far into their terms, however, these same politicians seem to fall into lockstep with their respective parties, while the pledges and searches for a meeting of the minds seem to be forgotten in the angry rhetoric, name-calling and intractability for which politicians have become so notorious.

Following his election as House speaker, Rozzi said all the right things to his colleagues: “The Commonwealth that is home to Independence Hall will now be home to this Commonwealth’s first independent speaker of the House.”

Rozzi said he “pledges my allegiance and my loyalty to no interest in this building, to no interest in our politics. I pledge my loyalty to the people of this Commonwealth.”

Wow! How refreshing is that!

Rozzi does not plan to change his voter registration from Democrat to Independent, but he will not caucus with either party, he said.

This is the first time in state history that a speaker of the House has chosen to cast himself as an independent. The speaker’s role is critical to the legislative process. They have the power to control floor debate, decide which bills get consideration for votes, and they have that all important role to appoint committee chairs.

With Rozzi as the compromise candidate, it appears to settle the issue of who would become the next House speaker. Previously, Democrats had indicated that Joanna McClinton, D-Philadelphia, was their choice, but her secret actions after the November elections soured her candidacy, especially among Republicans.

Technically, the Democrats hold a 102-101 edge in the lower house, but since there are three seats unfilled, but traditionally seats controlled by Democrats, Republicans on Jan. 3 held a 101-99 edge until the seats are filled. That could be during the April primaries at the latest but more likely in February, according to the timetable laid out by Rozzi.

By Bruce Frassinelli?|?tneditor@tnonline.com