All Eyes on Legislative Democrats

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No they don’t control the calendar, nor do they own either chamber, and they are
not driving the agenda, but legislative Democrats are in fact the most powerful
people in state government.

Why? You may be asking. They alone have the ability to determine the fate of our
state budget and deliver us from yet another prolonged impasse that will
negatively impact our school districts and children, social services, as well as
our most needy populations.

Although Republicans hold hefty majorities in both the House and the Senate, they alone don’t have enough votes to pass a tax-free budget. They need legislative Democrats in order to break the gridlock. All it takes is 16 house democrats (out of 203) and 3 Senate Democrats (out of 50) to vote with Republicans for any piece of legislation to become law without the Governor’s signature.

Specifically it’s suburban Democrats in western PA that have constituencies more
favorable to reform that are prime for migration. Many of these democrats live in districts that personally like them but philosophically prefer someone from the other party, evidenced by presidential election year district performances.

According to a recent Harper Poll Gov. Wolf’s current approval ratings have
plummeted lower than Corbett’s at this stage of his Administration. For a
governor who claims to have had a mandate, how did such a meteoric rise precede
such a rapid fall? The answer is simple, most Pennsylvanians don’t agree with his legislative priorities, the mantelpiece being broad based tax increases.

Governor Wolf has become so unpopular, that it may even be politically beneficial for local democrats to run against his agenda in this coming fall election.

Similar to how many southeastern republicans who occupy more progressive
districts ran against Tom Corbett in 2014.

Nothing to date has shown that Wolf is willing to truly reform PA Government,
raising taxes and protecting public sector unions, while hiding behind children
as his reason, is nothing new for those of the liberal ilk.

It’s commendable how long legislative Democrats have stood by their party leader
after a year and a half of stagnant state government. They’ve been forced to walk a tightrope between Gov. Wolf and their respective constituencies. Stuck in the unenviable position of choosing, when so much depends on having the ear of the Governor.

Wolf fully understands the precariousness and plight of suburban western PA
legislative democrats, if they vote with him lockstep, they face losing their
elections, if they don’t, they face retribution from him, such as a deprivation
of constituent services. However, Wolf continues to charge forward ignorant of
consequences for his local party-mates.

If history is our barometer, Wolf will have an extremely difficult time being
re-elected, but more than likely, Democrat party leaders won’t let him run again.

If we accept this assumption, then why let one man stand in the way of the
thousands of people in PA that will suffer 3 more years of such budget nonsense
when he can be overridden? The answer, only suburban legislative democrats know.