Standing inside a ballroom at the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in downtown Reading Friday night, Joanna McClinton spoke with passion.
The speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives — the first woman and second person of color to ever hold that post — praised her fellow Democrats who had gathered for the Berks County Democratic Committee spring dinner for the work they’ve done.
She applauded them for helping to flip the House to Democratic control. She lauded them for standing up to what she called the “radical, extreme right-wing agenda.”
And she encouraged them to keep fighting.
“We can’t go back, we don’t want to go back to an extremist, radical right-wing controlled Pennsylvania House because we have seen what they do when they are in charge,” she said. “They rush and do constitutional amendments that take away our rights. They rush and do bills that are dictated to them by corporate organizations. That’s all they do.”
A Democratic-controlled House, however, has already shown it can get important, impactful work done, she said.
“We had our first full two weeks of legislative voting in the majority, and we have done the things you have asked us to do,” she said.
McClinton cited several examples, starting with the first bill that was passed and signed into law by the governor this session.
The new law will allow people at higher risk of breast cancer to receive further genetic counseling, ultrasounds and MRIs among other treatments without paying out-of-pocket costs.
McClinton said House Democrats also stood up for workers by passing a bill that would extend occupational safety protections to Pennsylvania’s public sector workers and a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would give state workers “the fundamental right to organize and bargain collectively.”
She also spoke with pride about passing the Fairness Act, which would amend the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act to prohibit discrimination of people in housing, employment and public accommodations on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.
“These are things that happened because of Berks County Democrats,” she said to cheers from the crowd. “None of these good bills would have passed if we were not all on the same page.”
In particular, McClinton said, the efforts of state Rep. Mark Rozzi went above and beyond in helping to keep Democrats together and moving forward.
The Muhlenberg Township Democrat briefly served as speaker prior to McClinton, taking the gavel after receiving bipartisan support to hold the post, which he gave up after special elections determined the majority in the House.
“I’m so appreciative of my colleague who literally went out of his way to ensure that bad things did not occur in Harrisburg,” McClinton said of Rozzi. “He put himself on the line at a time when he didn’t have to.
“He inconvenienced his life, the life of his entire family and his career so that he could stand in the gap to ensure that, until we could get to a certain point of the year, we had protections from the extreme Republican agenda.”
In response to her words, Rozzi stood up and received a standing ovation from the crowd.
McClinton concluded her remarks by saying the efforts of local Democrats have been inspiring for her.
“We are ready to run and we are not going back,” she said. “And being here this evening, seeing all of the tremendously awesome statewide and local candidates, I am encouraged. I heard that not only did you flip a House seat last year, but you are getting ready to flip some county commissioner seats this year.”
Rozzi followed McClinton’s speech, kicking off his time at the podium by presenting an honorary gavel to the Berks County Democratic Committee in honor of his time as speaker.
“I never thought I would be a representative in the state House and I never aspired to be speaker of the House, but when the opportunity came I seized it for all Berks Countians at that moment,” he said. “But I also wanted to make sure the agenda that I’ve been pushing for since day one — getting those child sexual abuse bills to the finish line — would have a real opportunity.”
Rozzi said he’s proud that he has been able to continue his fight for victims of childhood sexual abuse without making ideological concessions to Republicans.
A proposed constitutional amendment would reopen a window for people sexually abused as children to sue those responsible. Rozzi said Republicans tried to tie it to two other amendments, one that would institute a voter ID law and one that would strip certain powers from the governor. Rozzi was able to separate them.
“That is what I’m most proud of, because when the Republicans got behind me to become speaker of the House they knew how bad I wanted that constitutional amendment for the victims, they expected me to push Senate Bill 1 altogether,” he said. “And I was not going to allow the Republicans to use victims for their own ideological gains.”
Rozzi said standing tough in those types of situations is necessary, even though it might not be comfortable.
“A lot of times when Democrats get in control we tend to play nice, and they needed to learn their lesson that they were trying to use me to force their agenda,” he said. “And I can tell you one thing: I was used as a child when I was sexually abused and I made damn sure that I would never be used again by anybody, including the Republicans to move their agenda forward.”
Rozzi concluded his remarks by promising to continue to fight for the victims of childhood sexual abuse despite the challenges and hurdles.
“I’m hoping this will finally be the year we will give victims justice and the truth that they deserve,” he said.
Source: Berkshire mont