HARRISBURG -- Suppose coach Bill Cowher had left the sideline at the start of a game, put on a striped shirt declaring that, while he was still a Steeler, he planned to function as an "independent arbiter" in games for the rest of the season.
The Steelers faithful would be shocked and dismayed.
And that's how a lot of Republican legislators are reacting to new House Speaker Dennis O'Brien's declaration that, while remaining a Republican, he plans to act as an independent consensus builder rather than as a partisan political leader, as speakers in the past have always done.
"This is a first. It's a huge change from the past. I don't think it's ever been done before," said longtime Legislature watcher G. Terry Madonna, a professor and pollster from Franklin and Marshall College.
He said Mr. O'Brien's independent arbiter approach differed markedly from strong-willed speakers such as Democrat Herbert Fineman, of the 1970s, Democrat Jim Manderino, who served in 1989 after a long tenure as majority leader, and the just-dethroned Republican John Perzel, who served as speaker from April 2003 until Nov. 30.
"They were activist, policy-oriented speakers who led their House caucuses in a partisan way," Mr. Madonna said. Other speakers, such as Matthew Ryan, 1995-2003, and K. Leroy Irvis, 1983-88, "were less hands-on when it came to shaping legislative policy, but Ryan was still a strong Republican and Irvis a strong Democrat."
Many GOP House members "are bent out of shape, especially some of the longtime Republican committee chairmen who are now not chairs anymore," said Rep. Steve Nickol, R-York. "Denny's biggest hurdle will be with those old bulls who are now dethroned. They'll be his hardest sell."
Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, a conservative Republican from Cranberry, had clashed with Mr. Perzel over policy at times but supported his re-election. He complained that Mr. O'Brien "sacrificed the Republican caucus's ability to have a stronger influence against the tax-and-spend agenda that we expect Gov. Ed Rendell to pursue this year."
Mr. O'Brien embraced the neutral arbiter role because of the strange, unprecedented way he won the House's top job.
Until the weekend before the Jan. 2 election, he wasn't even on the radar screen. The contest was between Mr. Perzel, who, like Mr. O'Brien, is a Republican from northeast Philadelphia, and Rep. Bill DeWeese, D-Waynesburg, the strongly partisan former speaker (1993-94) who'd been House minority leader since 1995.
Mr. DeWeese was aching to wield the House gavel again, but his ambition was frustrated when Rep. Tom Caltagirone, D-Berks, said he would vote for Mr. Perzel as an act of protest over Mr. DeWeese's past leadership. Because Democrats hold only a 102-101 edge in the House, Mr. Perzel seemed destined to become speaker again.
So Democratic leaders furiously huddled over New Year's weekend. Rep. Josh Shapiro, D-Montgomery, had an idea: Let's try Mr. O'Brien, a more moderate Republican than Mr. Perzel and someone who has clashed politically with Mr. Perzel.
So a deal was worked out, Mr. O'Brien said last week. He would remain a Republican, but he wouldn't campaign for or raise campaign cash for legislators of either party. That is starkly different from Mr. Perzel, who is known for his fund-raising prowess for Republican candidates.
To win Democratic votes, Mr. O'Brien pledged to run the office in an even-handed way, seeking to form bipartisan political compromises on difficult issues due to arise this year, such as health care changes and taxes to fund transportation needs.
When the speaker election was held Jan. 2, Mr. DeWeese pulled a stunner by nominating Mr. O'Brien, who got 99 of the 102 Democratic votes and six of the 101 GOP votes to defeat Mr. Perzel 105-98.
Another thing that makes Mr. O'Brien unusual is his passion to help people suffering from autism, which afflicts his 21-year-old nephew.
He has a large framed drawing of Dennis the Menace hanging on his office wall, a cherished gift he got as a result of a meeting several years ago with a 10-year-old Philadelphia boy who suffers from autism.
"I asked him what his name was and he said Timothy," Mr. O'Brien said last week. "He asked me what my name was and I said Dennis. He said, 'You mean like Dennis the Menace?' "
He loves to talk about the drawing, which was done by another autistic youth.
"It gives me a chance to tell people about my kids," he said, meaning his help for children with autism. Mr. O'Brien has pledged to use his new role to leverage more support for programs dealing with autism.
Mr. O'Brien dismisses questions about whether he can pull off the independent arbiter role.
"I was elected by my colleagues because they recognize reform must begin with the head of the chamber," he said. With 50 new members elected to the House last year, "voters are sending a clear message that business as usual is not acceptable."
As part of the deal that brought Mr. O'Brien's surprise election, the Democratic leadership promised not to nominate anyone else for the post during the two-year legislative session. If the Republicans could lure a small handful of Democratic defectors, however, Mr. O'Brien could, at least in theory, be ousted by a GOP-supported rival.
To forestall such a possibility. Mr. DeWeese reached out to his critic, Mr. Caltagirone, the man whose defection deprived him of his cherished ambition to serve again as speaker. Despite their differences, Mr. DeWeese acquiesced to Mr. Caltagirone's appointment as chairman of the Judiciary Committee.
"There will be enormous pressure on Denny to support Democratic bills and to facilitate the Rendell legislative program," Mr. Madonna said.
Mr. Metcalfe added: "I am concerned that Denny will just be a pawn in a chess game and Bill DeWeese and Ed Rendell will make the real moves."
Mr. O'Brien insists that won't happen. The speaker's office "will be inclusive, going forward," rather than shutting out either party, he told reporters last week.
And yet, his unprecedented election has preserved the power of the Democratic majority. If Mr. Perzel had pulled off his bid to be re-elected despite the GOP's minority position, House committee chairmanships would have been split between the parties. Under Mr. O'Brien's leadership, they were all retained by the majority Democrats
As for enacting controversial aspects of Mr. Rendell's health care program, such as smoke-free workplaces, he said: "I'm in a good position to be an arbiter of those discussions and move them in a positive direction. That's how I see my role."
He's gone so far as to install phone lines, computers and fax machines totally separate from either Democratic or GOP House offices, with a separate line item for the speaker's office in the new state budget, which takes effect July 1.
But some of his appointments have raised more concern about House Republicans. Mr. Shapiro, a Democrat, was named deputy speaker, a first-ever job but at no more than the normal $73,600 House salary, Mr. O'Brien insisted. And he reappointed Democrat Jeffrey Coy, an ally of Mr. DeWeese, to another two years on the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
Mr. O'Brien noted he had named a bipartisan commission to draft new House rules of operation, headed by Mr. Shapiro and Rep. David Steil, a Bucks County Republican who was one of the six members of his party to back Mr. O'Brien for speaker.
The group, which contains 12 other Democrats and 12 other Republicans, has 45 days to develop the rules by which the House will operate this year, things such as whether last-minute amendments can be offered without debate and whether House sessions will end at 10 p.m., to avoid past-midnight debacles such as the July 2005 pay raise vote.
Then the Steil-Shapiro panel will move on to consider more substantive legislative reforms, such as term limits for legislators or a smaller General Assembly.
Tim Potts, head of Democracy Rising PA, one of the citizens groups that fought the 2005 legislative pay raises, said it obviously was too soon to judge Mr. O'Brien but, "we think the prospect for a new approach to legislative issues holds real promise."
The most important change, Mr. Potts said, would be to give every bill at least three days' consideration before a vote is held rather than ramming one through at 2 a.m. with no debate.
He also wants a serious change in per diems, the $141-a-day reimbursement to legislators for food and lodging while at work in Harrisburg. Currently, no paperwork is needed to get the money.
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First Published: January 22, 2007, 5:00 a.m.