NEW SPEAKER CHOSEN; MAJORITY LEADERSHIP STILL UNDECIDED IN PA.

A new speaker has been elected in Pennsylvania’s state house but the governing body’s majority party is still undecided. Representative Mark Rozzi was voted in as speaker Tuesday. He is a Democrat from Berks County. The Democrats say they are in the majority on the basis of the number of House seats they won in the November election. However, Republicans say they are the majority party based on the number of members they already have seated who are ready to vote. Rozzi said at a news conference Tuesday night that he won’t caucus with either party on legislative matters.