House Rules

Imagine a body that's cut vertically into two halves - a body with more than 200 parts, most of them weak. That sums up the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. It's sharply divided along party lines, and only a few members of the majority party have much power at all. The way Harrisburg is run, most representatives - even some from the majority party - have the devil's own time even getting legislation out of committee for a vote on the floor. There's something to be said for the discipline and focus on agenda that comes from strong party leadership.

The great rules furor that kept the state House from functioning properly ended peaceably yesterday, at least for the time being, when those who wanted reforms bowed to the wishes of Democratic leaders. Democratic mavericks have at least temporarily dropped their fight to reduce perks, such as their state-leased cars and per diem allowances, and to change operating procedures. In return, House Democratic leaders have rescinded their decision to cut the staffs of the renegades. As part of the agreement, which was approved 199-4, House Majority Leader Ivan Itkin (D., Allegheny)

With hands on Bibles, standing amid a sea of flowers and family on the House and Senate floors, members of the Pennsylvania legislature were sworn in yesterday, beginning terms that will steer the state toward the new millennium. Highlighting the day was the reelection of Rep. Matthew J. Ryan (R., Delaware), who survived a no-show coup attempt to win a fourth term as speaker of the House. Democratic leaders and a pair of dissident Republicans had talked of a challenge in recent weeks, but no opposition stepped forward yesterday.

Commissioner Bud Selig had decided beforehand that Game 5 of the World Series must go nine innings, no matter the weather conditions or whether Thanksgiving would be celebrated before he awarded the championship trophy. But in Las Vegas, nearly all the sports books played by baseball's old rules, which meant a five-inning, 2-1 victory for the Phillies over the Tampa Bay Rays at the time the game was suspended Monday night. Kenny White, chief operating officer of Las Vegas Sports Consultants, said yesterday that under Nevada state rules, if the top half of an inning is played but the bottom half is not when play is called, and the home team is trailing or tied, the game reverts to the previous inning.

An ethics complaint filed Wednesday alleges that the new congressman from Bucks County missed his swearing-in to attend a fund-raiser. If that's true, it's a pretty good sign that Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.) believes his main job is to raise money to get reelected. By effectively launching his reelection bid even before taking the oath of office, Fitzpatrick comes off as cynical or clueless. Considering that he held this congressional seat before being exiled for two terms by former U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy (D., Pa.)

The House Rules Committee, responding to requests from representatives, voted yesterday to open all House expense records to the public. The decision, which the full House is scheduled to vote on today, averted a messy legislative battle that some representatives had promised if the rules were not changed. "I think it's fantastic," said Rep. James C. Greenwood (R., Bucks), who had drafted a resolution to change the rules. "Score one for the taxpayers. " Greenwood said he had agreed to withhold the introduction of the resolution until the Rules Committee voted.

After the imbroglio over Rep. Joe Wilson's "You lie!" during the president's address to Congress on health care, House Rules Committee Chairwoman Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) released an updated primer for members regarding conduct on the floor and in committees. Under section 370 of the House Rules and Manual, it has been held that a Member could: Refer to the government as "something hated, something oppressive. " Refer to the president as "using legislative or judicial pork.

The Justice Department's Public Integrity Section, which investigates charges of wrongdoing by public officials, has opened a preliminary probe of embattled House Speaker Jim Wright's finances, department officials said yesterday. Previously, the department's position was that it would await the outcome of proceedings against Wright in the House, where he has been charged by the ethics committee with 69 instances of violating House rules. No explanation was immediately available for the policy switch, which means the Justice Department will now determine whether there is enough evidence to warrant a formal grand jury investigation.

House Speaker Jim Wright and self-described former call girl Pamella Bordes, a one-time researcher in Parliament, are pictured together in a 1983 photograph printed today by the British newspaper the Daily Mail. Wright is currently under investigation for alleged unethical conduct. Bordes, 26, is a former Miss India whose sex and scandal memoirs involving rich and powerful men around the world are being serialized by the London tabloid. The paper reported today in the second installment of her memoirs that the picture of her and Wright was taken in Wright's office on Capitol Hill before he became House speaker.

In a unanimous vote, the House ethics committee yesterday accused Speaker Jim Wright of 69 violations of House rules by accepting $145,000 worth of gifts from a Texas business associate and evading limits on outside income by disguising speaking fees as book royalties. Concluding their 10-month investigation, the committee's six Democrats and six Republicans agreed on the findings, which could seriously imperil Wright's grip on the most powerful job in the House. The bipartisan stamp on the proceedings muted earlier complaints by Wright's allies that the inquiry was a Republican plot.

WASHINGTON - The Senate conducted no votes in this opening week of the 113th Congress. Here is how Philadelphia-area representatives voted on major issues: House Hurricane Sandy aid. Voting 354-67, the House on Friday passed a bill (HR 41) to increase federal borrowing by $9.7 billion to accommodate National Flood Insurance claims by property owners victimized by Hurricane Sandy in late October. This new borrowing would be added to an existing National Flood Insurance Program deficit of more than $20 billion, most of which is attributable to claims from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

TRENTON - For nearly 30 years, a court ruling aimed at preventing discrimination against low-income families has informed decisions on how much affordable housing New Jersey towns must have. Those guidelines could change significantly if the state Supreme Court agrees with municipalities and the Christie administration that development should determine the number of low-cost units in a town. The court heard arguments on the issue Wednesday during a five-hour hearing. Chief Justice Stuart Rabner and Appellate Judge Mary Catherine Cuff, who is temporarily filling a vacancy on the high court, were not present.

TRENTON - For nearly 30 years, a court ruling aimed at preventing discrimination against low-income families has informed decisions on how much affordable housing New Jersey towns must have. Those guidelines could change significantly if the state Supreme Court agrees with municipalities and the Christie administration that development should determine the number of low-cost units in a town. The court heard arguments on the issue Wednesday during a five-hour hearing. Chief Justice Stuart Rabner and Appellate Judge Mary Catherine Cuff, who is temporarily filling a vacancy on the high court, were not present.

Change comes hard to Harrisburg. Republican Rep. Curt Schroder, of Chester County, who will quit the state House after 17-plus years on Sunday, knew that intuitively when he arrived at the Capitol in January 1995. But it's a lesson that has been drummed in, time and again. Lincoln said he'd gotten his schooling "by littles. " That's how reform has come to the House, even after the scandal of Bonusgate and the public uproar over a 2005 legislative pay raise enacted late at night, when much of the public literally was sleeping.

Just when employment and the president's job-approval numbers were ticking upward, a new Obama administration mandate has sparked an uproar over religious freedom that risks alienating American Catholics, a key group of swing voters in the November electorate. At issue is a regulation, stemming from the 2010 health-care law, that requires religious-affiliated institutions such as colleges, hospitals, and charities to offer free contraception as part of health-insurance coverage for their workers, as other employers must.

Question: So I did something I know is wrong. During a recent visit, my mother-in-law checked her e-mail and never logged out. Instead of doing the right thing and logging it out, I read her sent mail. I had a hunch she was talking negatively about my husband and me, and unfortunately my hunch was confirmed. She is spreading some pretty nasty lies about us to our family and her friends. Now, I know how bad this makes me look. I will say openly that some of what she wrote was correct - I can be fussy, I can be particular - but I am always polite about it and keep those behaviors to my house only.

IT WAS YOUR typical fairy-tale romance: A fame-hungry princess with a penchant for baring her breasts fell for a prince's grandfather. Thrilled with his good fortune, the prince's grandfather asked the buxom princess to marry him, and when she said yes, he locked her in the castle until their wedding day. But five days before the ceremony, the princess ran away - to party in Las Vegas. Crystal Harris spoke with "Entertainment Tonight" about leaving Hugh Hefner , whom she'd met in 2008 and moved in with two weeks later, and said there were several reasons she decided to break off her engagement.

An ethics complaint filed Wednesday alleges that the new congressman from Bucks County missed his swearing-in to attend a fund-raiser. If that's true, it's a pretty good sign that Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.) believes his main job is to raise money to get reelected. By effectively launching his reelection bid even before taking the oath of office, Fitzpatrick comes off as cynical or clueless. Considering that he held this congressional seat before being exiled for two terms by former U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy (D., Pa.)

Gov. Christie should take advantage of the latest legal ruling in the battle over affordable housing in New Jersey to reach a compromise. Christie suffered a setback last week when an appeals judge lifted a 90-day moratorium imposed by the new governor suspending the state's affordable-housing regulations. But the judge left intact a five-member task force named by Christie to develop recommendations for providing affordable housing, which seems like a more reasonable approach to reforming the system.

Even many opponents of a bill to abolish the state Council on Affordable Housing agree the current system needs reform. But the best way to fix New Jersey's controversial affordable-housing regulations was very much up for debate at a second hearing on the issue yesterday. State Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D., Union), a primary sponsor of the move to eliminate COAH, said the Senate Economic Growth Committee was expected to vote on the proposal March 8. Lesniak repeatedly stressed that the bill - generally supported by municipal officials and opposed by affordable-housing organizations - falls short of New Jersey's affordable-housing needs.