Still, in 2015, Wolf’s first year in office, Turzai was widely blamed for blowing up budget talks two days before Christmas, further prolonging an impasse that left counties, schools, and social-service nonprofits in the lurch.
“This feels a lot like December 23, 2015,” Rep. Leanne Krueger-Braneky (D., Delaware) said Friday. “Because in a five-party negotiation, it appears to me that there is one outlier — and it is yet again the speaker of the House.”
Krueger-Braneky and other rank-and-file members said they didn’t know why they were being called in on a weekend to vote on a package few knew anything about. House Democrats said they were never given any draft bills or written proposals to debate Saturday.
The House is not scheduled to be in session this week but remains on call. GOP officials said many members will start leaving for planned summer vacations or out-of-town events. That includes Turzai, who’s scheduled to be in Atlanta on Monday for an event organized by a national committee Turzai chairs that’s dedicated to electing more Republican state legislators.
