HARRISBURG GOP keeps legislative leaders

House Democrats meet next week to select their leaders.
HARRISBURG (AP) -- Boasting their strongest majority in more than 40 years, House Republicans voted to keep their leadership team in place for the 2003-2004 legislative session.
The GOP caucus tapped Speaker Matthew J. Ryan of Delaware County for a sixth term, which would make him the state's third-longest serving speaker, when the full House fills that office in January. Rep. John M. Perzel of Philadelphia was selected for a fifth term as majority leader in the closed-door meeting.
In the Senate, the Republican and Democratic caucuses both voted to retain their leadership teams Monday. House Democrats will meet next Tuesday to decide on their leaders for the next two years.
When the Legislature officially begins the new session Jan. 7, Republicans will have a 109-94 majority in the House thanks to a gain of four seats in the Nov. 5 general election. The Senate's 29-21 Republican majority remained unchanged in the election.
Democratic governor
Meanwhile, after eight years of Republican control, the executive branch will be taken over in January by Democratic Gov.-elect Edward G. Rendell. GOP leaders vowed Monday to work with the new administration.
"We don't want it to be like the gridlock we saw in Washington when Clinton was president," said Perzel, referring to budget battles between the GOP-dominated Congress and the Democratic president that led to two government shutdowns in the mid-1990s.
Other House leaders include Rep. Samuel Smith of Clearfield County, who was elected to a second term as majority whip, and Rep. David Argall of Schuylkill County, who was picked for his first full term as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
Argall was chosen for the post in April to replace Rep. John Barley of Lancaster County, who resigned.
In the Senate, Sen. Robert C. Jubelirer, R-Blair, was nominated for another term as president pro tempore, a position to which he was first elected in 1984. The full Senate will fill that post in January.
The top leadership position in the Senate, the president pro tempore appoints committee members and fills in when the lieutenant governor is not available to preside in the Senate. For the past 13 months, Jubelirer has continued to hold the office even as he has doubled as lieutenant governor.
Others re-elected
Re-elected to other Senate GOP leadership posts were Majority Leader David J. Brightbill of Lebanon County and Majority Whip Jeffrey Piccola of Dauphin County. Also, Sen. Robert Thompson of Chester County, was picked for another term as Appropriations Committee chairman.
Senate Democratic leaders who were re-elected included Minority Leader Robert J. Mellow of Lackawanna County and Minority Whip Michael A. O'Pake of Berks County. Sen. Vincent J. Fumo of Philadelphia was awarded another term as ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Committee.
The GOP has controlled both houses since the mid-1990s. The last time the House had a more substantial Republican majority was during the 1957-58 legislative session, when there were 126 Republicans, 83 Democrats and one vacancy.