Minority Leader

HARRISBURG ? Federal agents this morning raided the home and district office of Sen. Minority Leader Robert J. Mellow (D., Lackawanna), federal authorities have confirmed. It is unclear what time the raid occurred and what was taken from the two locations. FBI special agent Frank Burton Jr. would say only: "Based on an ongoing joint federal investigation into alleged illegal activities of Sen. Robert Mellow, those search warrants were executed this morning. " Mellow could not be reached for immediate comment.

THE WAY the state legislative pay increase was slammed through shows a leadership that is insensitive to both the desires of their rank and file and, even worse, the people who elected them. Legislators need to remember that they report to the people of their districts, not the legislative leaders or the governor. Demoting 15 Democratic subcommittee chairmen who voted against the raise and promoting 15 who voted for it may be legal and business as usual, but it stinks to high heaven.

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - Family, friends, and New Jersey's major political figures paid final respects to Assembly Republican leader Alex DeCroce on Friday. More than 1,000 mourners filled St. Peter Apostle Church or DeCroce's Funeral Mass. Gov. Christie and his wife, Mary Pat, escorted DeCroce's widow, Betty Lou, into the church. Christie delivered a eulogy to a man he considered a mentor. Christie postponed his State of the State address after DeCroce, 75, collapsed and died at the Statehouse late Monday following a marathon lame-duck legislative session.

Congress is back in session, but there is little hope it will accomplish much before returning to the campaign trail. The main reason for pessimism is the naysayers who control all but a handful of the Republican members in both houses and who use procedural maneuvers - including an unprecedented number of threatened filibusters - to endow a minority with the power to impose gridlock. One reason I feel this way may be that I am a liberal Democrat. But there is a relentless negativism, even nastiness, about the Republican leadership that I believe offends people of good will, regardless of ideology.

As Pennsylvania Sen. Hugh Scott's chief of staff during the entire Watergate saga, I was interested to read Trudy Rubin's column Sunday and see the parallels between then and now. I would suggest that what Scott did took more political courage than any action being considered by any Republican senator now. The end game then was an incumbent president's removal from office. Scott, who was the minority leader, led moderate senators in the so-called eastern Republican establishment, yet reached out to Sen. Barry Goldwater of Arizona, leader of the party's conservative wing, to meet with President Nixon.

HARRISBURG - In the halls of the historic state Capitol, everything old is new again, even the leaders. The state House of Representatives returned Tuesday after its monthlong election break with one pressing agenda item: choosing the men (and one woman) who will lead the Democratic and Republican caucuses in the 2012-13 legislative session. The faces are largely the same. House Speaker Sam Smith (R., Jefferson) and Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R., Allegheny) were unanimously reelected by the GOP caucus.

Camden County Democratic chairman George E. Norcross 3d, in a bid for greater statewide clout and access to millions more in campaign funds, has been trying to broker a deal that would elevate a close ally to one of the top positions in the state Senate. Last night, on the eve of the vote by the Senate Democrats, it appeared that Norcross had only partially succeeded. He has helped get a promotion - for State Sen. John H. Adler of Cherry Hill. But Adler will have to share the post - and Norcross the power - with two other senators because Norcross failed to topple the senator who now holds the post.

For two years, they have been a sideshow in the state capital, sniping at Gov. Florio and Democratic legislative leaders but never allowed into the big tent where policy was decided. But when Sen. John H. Dorsey (R., Morris) and Assemblymen Garabed "Chuck" Haytaian (R., Warren) and Bob Franks (R., Union) held a news conference yesterday to celebrate the Republicans' decisive takeover of the legislature, they were finally in the center ring. For Franks, 40, the blond-haired GOP party chairman, the resounding victory added a credit to the resume some think he may take to the 1993 gubernatorial primary.

President Clinton and Republican leaders of Congress today held their first formal meeting in 19 months, a businesslike but chilly session that appears to have done little to pacify the cold war between them . . . Today's meeting between Clinton and the bipartisan congressional leadership was the beginning of serious talks about the legislative agenda. - New York Times, Feb. 24 President: I'd like to thank you all for coming today, to kick off a new spirit of cooperation, something I like to call, "Bye Partisan, Hello Bipartisan.

When Philadelphia-based super-lobbyist Stephen R. Wojdak made a recent hire, he ignited a firestorm that blew open normally closed doors to reveal a messy Harrisburg power play. Forget the civics book: In the state legislature, the political is purely personal. "Let's cut to the chase . . . you sir, are a liar," House Democratic Leader William DeWeese wrote Wojdak in a letter that was sent last Thursday, one day after the announcement that DeWeese's ex-wife, Holly Kinser, had been hired as a senior vice president with S.R. Wojdak & Associates.

HARRISBURG - In the halls of the historic state Capitol, everything old is new again, even the leaders. The state House of Representatives returned Tuesday after its monthlong election break with one pressing agenda item: choosing the men (and one woman) who will lead the Democratic and Republican caucuses in the 2012-13 legislative session. The faces are largely the same. House Speaker Sam Smith (R., Jefferson) and Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R., Allegheny) were unanimously reelected by the GOP caucus.

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - Family, friends, and New Jersey's major political figures paid final respects to Assembly Republican leader Alex DeCroce on Friday. More than 1,000 mourners filled St. Peter Apostle Church or DeCroce's Funeral Mass. Gov. Christie and his wife, Mary Pat, escorted DeCroce's widow, Betty Lou, into the church. Christie delivered a eulogy to a man he considered a mentor. Christie postponed his State of the State address after DeCroce, 75, collapsed and died at the Statehouse late Monday following a marathon lame-duck legislative session.

HARRISBURG - In recent years, many have pushed for cutting the size of the Pennsylvania legislature: reformers, think tanks, candidates for office. But now the call for shrinking the 203-member House of Representatives comes from an unlikely source: one of those 203 members. And not just any one - the representative who, come January, is expected to become House speaker. Fresh off his party's victories at the polls, House Minority Leader Sam Smith (R., Jefferson) on Wednesday said he would like to see the chamber's ranks trimmed - for the simple reason that he believed it would make it easier to get things done in the Capitol.

HARRISBURG ? Federal agents this morning raided the home and district office of Sen. Minority Leader Robert J. Mellow (D., Lackawanna), federal authorities have confirmed. It is unclear what time the raid occurred and what was taken from the two locations. FBI special agent Frank Burton Jr. would say only: "Based on an ongoing joint federal investigation into alleged illegal activities of Sen. Robert Mellow, those search warrants were executed this morning. " Mellow could not be reached for immediate comment.

Another great thing about being a Pennsylvania legislator is that you can invalidate a law if it's hurting your ability to earn some extra cash. Consider the case of Senate minority leader Robert J. Mellow (D., Lackawanna). He's the longest-serving senator in Harrisburg, so you know he excels at looking out for Number One. As The Inquirer reported yesterday, Mellow charged taxpayers $200,000 over seven years for rent on his district office near Scranton in a building co-owned by his then-wife and later by himself.

As Pennsylvania Sen. Hugh Scott's chief of staff during the entire Watergate saga, I was interested to read Trudy Rubin's column Sunday and see the parallels between then and now. I would suggest that what Scott did took more political courage than any action being considered by any Republican senator now. The end game then was an incumbent president's removal from office. Scott, who was the minority leader, led moderate senators in the so-called eastern Republican establishment, yet reached out to Sen. Barry Goldwater of Arizona, leader of the party's conservative wing, to meet with President Nixon.

A captain never abandons his ship. So said State House Minority Leader H. William DeWeese (D., Fayette) yesterday in explaining why he was one of only two lawmakers Wednesday night to vote against repealing the controversial legislative pay raises. In a prepared statement, DeWeese said he believed that he "had no other recourse than to be consistent in my public position" - a reference to the fact that he has not wavered in his support of a pay raise for the legislature. "The inherent responsibility of the captain is to stay with the ship and work unstintingly on behalf of the people who serve with him," added DeWeese, the top Democrat in the House.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) said yesterday that he would vote against confirming John G. Roberts Jr. as chief justice. His opposition will not change the outcome. The Republican-controlled Senate is still expected to confirm Roberts, probably next week, to head the Supreme Court. But it could increase pressure on other fence-sitting Democrats such as Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York to vote no. It also could embolden President Bush to pick a more controversial nominee for the remaining court vacancy, increasing the chances of a more contentious fight.

THE WAY the state legislative pay increase was slammed through shows a leadership that is insensitive to both the desires of their rank and file and, even worse, the people who elected them. Legislators need to remember that they report to the people of their districts, not the legislative leaders or the governor. Demoting 15 Democratic subcommittee chairmen who voted against the raise and promoting 15 who voted for it may be legal and business as usual, but it stinks to high heaven.

In Washington, he's the Senate Democratic leader, afforded all the deference and courtesies of his position. But here, amid the Joshua trees and russet hills of the Nevada desert, Harry Reid is simply "Pinky," the hard-rock miner's son who, on a good day, may get a corner booth at the Searchlight Nugget. Harry Mason Reid is a soft-spoken nice guy with a tough-guy spiel; a partisan Democrat who opposes abortion and restrictions on gun ownership; a teetotaling Mormon with Sin City in his heart.