It’s unclear whether debate over a Democratic measure will tie things up in the state House this week. Last week’s session ended when Democrats attempted to advance a proposal urging federal authorities to reexamine how the state handled the prosecution of Jerry Sandusky.
The four session days in the state House next week promise to be among the busiest of the legislative year. All un-passed bills and other measures will die at the end of this session. Democrats still want to see movement on a non-binding resolution to invite a federal review of the Sandusky case prosecuted by the commonwealth. Steve Miskin, the House G-O-P spokesman, called the proposal "silly," but said Republicans have no plans to try to block it from being considered.
“If the Democrats choose to spend the limited time in session to debate really a pointless and obviously partisan and political resolution instead of actually taking on legislation that will help protect children in the future, you know, in the end they’ve got to answer to others,” Miskin said.
House Democratic spokesman Bill Patton said his caucus wants to see a vote on the measure before time runs out this legislative session.
“It’s up to the Republican majority to decide what they want to do. Just to be clear, it wasn’t the resolution itself that ended House session last week,” said Patton. “It was simply the decision of the Speaker and the majority party not to deal with the resolution.
Patton said several unanswered questions remain about why it took so long to prosecute Sandusky when Governor Corbett was heading the state Attorney General’s office. He says his caucus is simply trying to have the resolution considered before time runs out this year.
