The House and Senate are scheduled to be in Session Tuesday and Wednesday next week, with the possible addition of Thursday, before returning home for last minute campaigning.
While it has not been ruled out, many legislators had not considered using their lame duck session privilege to enact legislation, but rather to return mid-November for housekeeping and caucus elections.
Rumors have been circulating that House Republican leadership will push for pension reform action this calendar year. Corbett has been asking Pennsylvanians to contact their legislators and demand pension reform – one of his most significant “to do” list items.
Rep. Mike Tobash (R-Schuylkill), author of the most popular pension reform option, said adding days to the calendar post-election is not “unwarranted” to move the reform forward.
Tobash told PLS reporters, “Certainly, any arrow that’s left in the quiver needs to be utilized at this point in time and there is the observation that it is indeed a potential, but probably not a favorite, strategy.”
House GOP spokesman Steve Miskin confirmed that Tobash’s proposal is “within striking distance” of the necessary 102 votes needed to pass the House. However, this is in contrast to comments House GOP members have made in recent days indicating that they do not believe the measure can pass without Democratic votes. House Democrats have gone on record as “strongly opposing” the Tobash plan on several occasions.
Adding another layer of complexity, Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R-Delaware) reconfirmed this week that his caucus is not interested in lame duck action.