DV Journal

Pennsylvania Sen. Kim Ward, the first woman to serve as Pennsylvania Senate President Pro Tempore, will continue serving as interim pro tempore and is expected to be reelected in January.

Ward (R-Westmoreland) spoke to DVJournal about what she hopes to accomplish for Pennsylvanians.

“This election spoke volumes,” said Ward. “People don’t want to hear about social issues. Obviously, the Democrats ran full speed on abortion. [People] don’t want to hear about boys in women’s sports. They want to hear about how you will help them put food on the table and pay their utility bills.

“And we need to work on our energy,” said Ward. “We have an abundance of energy in Pennsylvania, and we have room in this commonwealth for every type of energy. But the Democrats have declared war on fossil fuels.

“Pennsylvania is sitting on the second biggest pot of gold in the United States,” said Ward. “We need to be able to unleash that to give people really great jobs that pay well so they can take care of their families.”

One reason electric bills are so high now is because former Gov. Tom Wolf (D) “unilaterally” took the state into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).

“We went to court to say a governor does not have the unilateral ability to tax, and that was a tax.  Well, Gov. (Josh) Shapiro said he supported our stance but then, when we won in court, he appealed it. But you know, that’s the way it goes with him.” They are waiting for a decision on that appeal.

“But [RGGI] is one of the big reasons we’re having higher electric bills, because the companies have come out with higher rates,” she said.

“The Democrats have closed down our coal-fired plants. Meanwhile, China’s building them. They’re not closing them down in Ohio. They’re not closing them down in West Virginia. But in Pennsylvania, we’re saying, ‘Oh, no thank you.’”

This is “one of the big issues that we should be pushing because I think it affects our families,” said Ward. “It affects jobs across the board, affects incomes. It affects people’s ability to pay the bills they have to pay every month.

“And I think that’s energy we have to unleash, and we need to unleash our potential here in Pennsylvania,” said Ward.

Ward said the best thing about being a state senator is being able to help people. Asked about the most important things she’s accomplished as Senate pro tempore, she said the bill to fight breast cancer was “huge.”

And the corporate net income tax cut from 8.99 percent to 8.49 percent “was important to getting Pennsylvania on the right track.”

Also, raising the child tax credit to match the federal government was important. “I’d like to go further,” said Ward. “Those are the kind of issues that matter to people.”

Asked about working with a Democratic-led House, Ward said, “It’s like we live in two different countries.”

The Senate Republicans send the House “commonsense bills” that return like “a loaded up cherry tree.” One example was her bill to move up the state’s primary date, which the House sent back with so many other provisions it could not pass the Senate.

Asked if it was difficult working with a Democratic governor, Ward said, “No, I can’t call it difficult. I would say that it’s a challenge to get him to commit to one side or the other.”

For the next term, Sen. Joe Pittman (R-Indiana) was reelected Senate majority leader; Sen. Ryan Aument (R-Lancaster) was reelected majority whip; Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill (R-York) was reelected as majority caucus chair:

Sen. Camera Bartolotta (R-Beaver) was reelected Senate majority caucus secretary; and Sen. Scott Martin (R-Lancaster) was reelected as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

On the Democratic side, Sen. Jay Costa, Jr. (D-Allegheny) was reelected minority leader. The caucus whip will be Sen. Tina Tartaglione (D-Philadelphia); Appropriations Committee chair will be Sen. Vincent Hughes (D-Philadelphia); Sen. Maria Collett (D-Montgomery) will be caucus chair;  Caucus Secretary will be Sen. Steve Santarsiero (D-Bucks);  Policy Committee Chair will be Sen. Nick Miller (D-Lehigh) and the administrator will be Sen. Judy Schwank (D-Berks).

“I am honored and humbled to announce that I will be serving as the leader of the Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Caucus for the next two years,” said Costa. “I’d like to thank my fellow Democratic senators for entrusting me with this responsibility. I look forward to the fight ahead.”

The saying goes, “Never argue with someone who buys ink by the barrel.”

But in this case, former Democratic state Sen. Daylin Leach has prevailed, although his political career is over.

Leach, who represented parts of Montgomery and Delaware Counties, reached settlements with The Philadelphia Inquirer and his “Me Too” accusers. The Inquirer recently ran a large ad above the fold as part of the settlement. Leach told the DVJournal that, under the terms of the settlement, he could not disclose the sum the paper agreed to pay him.

On X, he said, “Today, The Philadelphia Inquirer posted an unprecedented Page B-1, above-the-fold retraction for false stories they wrote about me as part of the resolution of my defamation suit. Justice takes time, but it’s certainly worth it.”

“The Inquirer came at me with this story about this girl from 30 years earlier who was claiming I assaulted her,” said Leach. “It became clear to them the story was not credible.” There were “six or seven wildly different and irreconcilable stories. But I found out later. The Inquirer knew them all.”

Leach had sued the three “Me too” accusers first and previously reached a settlement with them. Allentown area resident Cara Taylor, a convicted perjurer, had told various stories about Leach after Leach, a lawyer, represented her mother in court in the 1990s. The other two women he sued for defamation had supported Taylor and amplified her message on social media and at protests.

Leach used evidence from that suit as fodder in his litigation against The Inquirer. Editors at the newspaper rejected the story about Taylor’s accusations, but a reporter persisted in trying to find a way to publish it, the suit said. The Inquirer ran some 40 stories regarding allegations against Leach beginning in 2017.

While reporters must be truthful, there is some leeway for breaking news about government actions under “the fair reporting privilege,” the suit noted.

According to Leach’s suit against The Inquirer and two journalists, one of the reporters, Angela Couloumbis, allegedly encouraged Taylor to do things that would bring about government actions so that she could report her allegations against Leach under the fair reporting privilege, the suit said.

As part of the first lawsuit against Taylor, her posts to a group of friends in a private Facebook group that they called “Project Puke F***”–their nickname for Leach–were turned over. During a deposition, Taylor said those posts were truthful.

Taylor said, “As soon as I file for a pardon….Angela says it’s a legal document that is public record, and she can use that to report the story” and “There is no way to answer the pardon application questions without involving [Senator] Daylin [Leach]. The who[le] point of me filing that is for Angela’s ability to print the story.”

“And Angela said a public document would get the story published. She has known about [sic] since I did it, and still nothing. She kept pushing me, too, for a copy of my pardon application.”

“F*** the pardon! I was only doing that so Angela would have a public document to publish her story,” Taylor said.

Couloumbis allegedly encouraged Taylor to file a private criminal complaint against Leach. After the lawsuit was filed, Couloumbis denied Leach’s allegations.

But when then Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin declined to do anything about the supposed crime, which was past the statute of limitations, Couloumbis recommended Taylor circulate the complaint among state senators, Leach said.

Lawyer Eli Segal, who represented The Inquirer in the Leach case, declined to comment.

Leach said because of The Inquirer’s articles, he faced issues with his colleagues in the Senate. Sen. Katie Muth (D-Montgomery/Chester) was particularly insistent that Leach resign or be removed, even after a report from lawyers Eckert Seamans disproved the allegations. He told some “juvenile” jokes, but he never sexually harassed anyone, the report said.

Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa had asked the law firm to investigate Leach. When the report came out exonerating Leach, he was told they would read it out loud in the Senate caucus room, and the brouhaha would be over. Costa told Leach that he would be reinstated to various committees.

That didn’t happen.

“Sen. Katie Muth was obsessed with me. I don’t know why she was so obsessed, but she was. After the attorney from Eckert Seamans said he found no wrongdoing, she leaps up from her chair in the caucus and says, ‘You’re a f***ing liar.’ And starts screaming. And she starts posting stuff furiously on Twitter with the hashtag’ fake exoneration.’”

And Muth threatened Costa, who was running for reelection, with protests at his office and told him he “better not let this happen,” said Leach.

“So Sen. Costa called me into his office and said, ‘Katie Muth is unhappy you’ve been exonerated.’ And I was like, ‘Well, that’s unfortunate for her.’” Costa told him he would reopen the investigation because Muth wanted him to.

Leach said he would release the report anyway. So Costa called on him to resign. After the second investigation found nothing, Muth “kept filing complaints against me, ethics complaints, they were all dismissed. But she was obsessed with having me expelled from the Senate. She said my mere presence made her uncomfortable, and she wanted me out (even saying she) didn’t care if the allegations weren’t true.”

Neither Muth nor Costa responded to requests for comment.

Many other politicians Leach thought were his friends turned their backs on him. Some later apologized privately, he said.

“Marcel Groen lost his job as chair of the state party because he wouldn’t come out against me,” said Leach. “It was his dream job. Gov. Tom Wolf called him and told him, ‘You’ve got to call for Daylin to resign.’” Groen told the governor he’d looked at the allegations, and they were not credible, so he refused. And, while Wolf could not fire a party chair, he told Groen he no longer had his support, and Groen, who was “old school,” stepped down, Leach said.

In 2020, Amanda Cappelletti defeated Leach in the primary and won the general election. Leach, who had begun a run for Congress when the scandal ensued, may start a supply chain business for the cannabis industry. He authored the Pennsylvania law legalizing medical marijuana.

“I can’t be a lobbyist,” said Leach. “No one’s going to hire me to be a lobbyist. The only way I’ll ever work again is if I start my own company, which I’m trying to do.”

Please follow DVJournal on social media: Twitter@DVJournal or Facebook.com/DelawareValleyJournal

DelVal State Sen. Katie Muth says the rules of the Pennsylvania Senate are unfair, and she is teaming up with a colleague to fight back.

Muth and Sen. Lindsey Williams held an online Democratic Policy Committee discussion Wednesday evening to discuss rule changes for the upcoming legislative session.

“Most people would be shocked to learn how rigged these rules are,” Muth said in her opening remarks. Democrats will be in the minority in the Pennsylvania Senate for the 29th year next legislative session with a 22 to 28 split.

Williams (D-Allegheny) and Muth (D-Chester/Berks/Montgomery) also sent a letter to the new Senate leadership asking that a long list of changes be made to Senate rules used to conduct business. The changes would give members of the minority party more power.

Minority Leader Sen. Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) said he supports the senators’ proposals.

“Negotiations on the rules are taking place as we speak and hopefully, we’ll be able to incorporate some of these,” said Costa.

Muth said the changes would make the Senate “more fair.”

One of her complaints is that under current rules, the minority party’s bills may not come up for discussion or votes, depending on decisions by the leadership of the majority party. “We’re not even able to speak on the floor before a bill is voted on,” said Muth.

However, both Muth and Williams admitted previously voting for those rules, which passed the Senate unanimously.

Now, Muth is complaining about them.

“Hundreds of bills and resolutions drafted by members of the minority party never receive consideration in committee,” said Williams. On the Senate floor, Democrats can offer amendments but the majority “routinely uses procedural motions, such as tabling the amendment” to prevent those amendments from being incorporated into the legislation — or even discussed.

“We call the committee ‘the graveyard’ sometimes because that’s where all the good bills go to die and they never get a vote,” Muth said.

During the online discussion, she showed a video of a chaotic scene in June 2019 and floor discussion of a bill concerning general assistance (welfare). The Democrats asked Lt. Gov. John Fetterman acting as Senate president to take control. Fetterman allowed Muth to read a letter on the floor in violation of the rules. Sen. Pro Tempore Jake Corman called out Fetterman’s actions.

“Never in my career has the presiding officer ignored the rules,” Corman said. “Your job is to enforce the rules of the Senate and not to be a partisan hack.”

Fetterman has since been elected to the U.S. Senate.

Williams cited some statistics: In the most recent two-year session, only 6.5 percent of bills introduced made it through the legislative process and only two bills introduced by Democrats reached the governor’s desk. But 111 bills sponsored by Republicans did.

The list of proposed rule changes includes ensuring all bills and resolutions receive a vote in committee; a two-thirds vote requirement for certain motions, including tabling; mandating the marked calendar be released at least 24 hours before the start of the session, and authorizing ranking minority chairs to call committee hearings.

Other rule changes include implementing a sexual harassment and misconduct policy to protect all individuals working within the state capitol, including outside contractors, lobbyists, and visitors; and requiring all members’ legislative expenses and all per diem payments to be posted and in a searchable format on the public-facing website of the legislature.

Erica Clayton Wright, Senate Republican Caucus spokesperson, said, “At the beginning of each legislative session, after consultation and compromise with the minority leadership team, the Senate as a body votes on the rules of the Senate. While we encourage and value Sens. Muth and Williams’s engagement in the rules process, the proper channel to present their recommendations is to their leadership and their members, not the media.”

During the discussion, Muth asked members of the public to contact their state senator and ask them to support these rule changes when the new Senate session begins on Jan. 3.

Please follow DVJournal on social media: Twitter@DVJournal or Facebook.com/DelawareValleyJournal