House GOP Re-Elects Smith Speaker
HARRISBURG – The 111 members of the incoming Pennsylvania House Republican Caucus today once again elected Rep. Sam Smith (R-Punxsutawney) as their choice for speaker of the House and Rep. Mike Turzai as majority leader for the 2013-14 legislative session. Today’s caucus election comes seven days after Republicans increased their majority from 109 members going into Election Day, to 111 members and retaining control of the state House for the second session in a row. Smith’s and Turzai’s elections were part of today’s reorganization session of the Republican Caucus. The formal election for speaker will take place in the full House when the 2013-14 session begins on Jan. 1, 2013. Republicans hold a 111-92 majority in the state House. “We governed responsibly for the last two years and plan to keep moving in that direction,” Smith said. “We will continue to focus on the economy, private sector job-creation and restoring citizens’ confidence in state government.” “We ran o...