Commonwealth Foundation Congratulates New House Leadership

June 24, 2020, Harrisburg, Pa. —  Following the retirement of House Speaker Mike Turzai, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives’ elected a new Speaker and several new members of the majority leadership team for the remainder of the 2019-20 session, Monday. 

Commonwealth Foundation Vice President Steve Bloom has provided the following overview of the changes.

Speaker of the House
Lancaster County Rep. Bryan Cutler, who had been serving as Majority Leader, was elevated to the position of Speaker of the House. His ascension to the House’s highest office initiated a series of other leadership position openings.

Speaker Cutler ultimately won his position with unanimous bi-partisan support, evidencing his results-oriented track record and consensus-building skills. As Majority Leader, Cutler has been a thoughtful advocate, careful strategist, and persuasive ambassador on behalf of expanding school choice, implementing pension reform, curbing Pennsylvania’s stifling tax burden, and numerous other initiatives to promote human flourishing in our state. 

Majority Leader
Rep. Kerry Benninghoff of Centre County—previously the Majority Whip—was elected the new Majority Leader. Leader Benninghoff’s unwavering commitment to fiscal responsibility has been demonstrated by his successful efforts to fend off billions of dollars in tax hikes, and his work to advance the case for important fiscal issues like tax reform, regulatory reform and welfare reform.

Majority Whip
Rep. Donna Oberlander – the previous Majority Policy Chair – was elected to serve as the new Majority Whip. In this role, Rep. Oberlander, a respected conservative leader, will gather support from her Republican colleagues for critical legislation in the House of Representatives.

Majority Policy Committee Chair
Rep. Marty Causer won the final election of the day, taking over Rep. Oberlander’s former position of Policy Committee Chair. In this role, he will be responsible for leading the advancement of high priority policy issues while gathering essential input from the public, key stakeholders and his colleagues from every corner of the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth Foundation congratulates each representative on the attainment of their new leadership roles. We look forward to continuing our constructive collaboration with these leaders in their new positions, as well as the rest of the leadership team, as Pennsylvania writes a new chapter in America’s story.

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The Commonwealth Foundation transforms free-market ideas into public policies so all Pennsylvanians can flourish.