Senate 11f ?pnnagluunia July 2, 2019 Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman 200 Main Capitol Building Harrisburg, PA 17120 Lieutenant Governor Fetterman: Even though several days have passed since the proceedings of June 26, we continue to have grave concerns regarding your dereliction of duty and de?ance as the presiding of?cer of the Senate. We are compelled to outline them in this letter. The Senate of consists of 50 Senators. elected, sworn and seated to represent their districts and perform the legislative duty assigned to them by the Constitution. Under Section 1 of Article 11, each chamber has the power to determine the rules of its proceedings. This legislative power and authority is provided by the Constitution, which you, and every member of the Senate, took an oath to uphold. Your role under Article IV to preside over the Senate does not entitle you to usurp the legislative authority assigned to the members. The Rules of the Senate are paramount for the Senate to properly ?inction. Your self-righteous de?ance of the Rules has scarred the institution. First and foremost, we will not tolerate mistreatment of our Senate Parlimnentarian/Secretary, Megan Martin, Esq. As we are sure you know, Parliamentarian Martin is the ?rst unanimously elected female Parliamentarian in Senate history. During the day?s events, you dismissed her repeatedly and went so far as to actually gesture at her to be silent. She has a deep, abiding respect for the Senate of as we do, and at the very least you owe her a public apology. Parliamentarian Martin is the sole individual that allows you to function when presiding, as your understanding of our Rules is negligible and your disdain for presiding is abundantly clear. That said, nothing in our Constitution or law requires you to preside over the Senate. 1f going forward you decide not to do so, you will hear no objection from us. We have capable and knowledgeable Senators to ?ll this role with distinction. As a matter of fact, the Rules of the Senate speak to the necessity of both you and the body putting in place someone who can preside if you choose not to. Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman Page 2 July 2, 2019 Even though you have a sparse foundation in the Rules of the Senate, those Rules were adOpted unanimously by a vote of the Senate pursuant to the Constitution. You know full well that on Wednesday you chose to simply ignore those Rules on numerous occasions. This arrogance was the principal driver of the chaos of the day and it becomes even more in?ammatory that you bragged about this de?ance in a tweet days later. Your comments a?er Wednesday were also troubling. You pushed a false narrative that members of our Caucus were yelling at a member of the Democratic Party. The transcript of Wednesday refutes this absolutely. No less than 30 times Senator Corman stated ?Mr. President" which you ignored. We were rightfully outraged that you willfully ignored the Senate Rules and our points of order and objections. The Senate Democrats with your acquiescence and c00peration have also Spun that your debacle was about cash assistance. We stand by our vote, but that too is a false attempt to turn people's attention to something other than your odious conduct. (We note that the Governor signed the bill to eliminate the program last week). If you choose to do this again, we will immediately reassign your duties to a member of the Senate as provided by the Rules. Although we collectively and individually review the Rules on a regular basis, there was no ambiguity of your actions on June 26; you decided to ignore the relevant provisions that are clearly on the books. We request that you take the summer months to actually read the Rules of the Senate and learn Parliamentary procedure. There is a conference in September hosted by the National Association of Parliamentarians that you should attend if you plan to continue to preside. You would serve the Senate of and yourself well to do so. We trust that you know full well the consequences of your actions and the role you played in abandoning your sworn oath for political brinksmanship and disdain for the institution. This allowed the public to be misled and the institution damaged. Your actions were premeditated to create chaos and sell that chaos for political wins. Those political wins have led to death threats, threats of sexual violence to members and staff, a litany of misogynistic and homophobic intimidations through calls and emails, and a false political narrative pushed by taxpayer funded employees. Presiding over the Senate is a serious responsibility. Going forward we demand that you precisely follow the Rules, which were adepted with the support of all Senators. Rules of the Senate have been effective since the establishment of the Senate. As Senator Corman noted during the debate, we have never been witness to such egregious actions of the presiding of?cer as yours on Wednesday. This will not be tolerated again. Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman Page 3 July 2, 2019 The Senate Republican Caucus, Joe Scarnati President Pro Tempore Senator David Argall ?ew Senator Lisa Baker mgmb? Senator Michele Brooks i? hear? Senator John DiSanto nator John Gordner ?ew Jake Corrnan Majority Leader f/Z? Senator Ryan Aument Senator Camera Bartolotta Senator Pat Browne Mk Senator Mike Folmer Senator Scott Hutchinson Lieutenant Governor John Fetterrnan Page 4 July 2, 2019 Senator Tom Killion . Senator Laughlin 3 . Senator Doug Mastriano Senator Kristin Phillips-Hill Senator Mike Regan ?424% Senator Pat Stefano Senator Elder Vogel Senator Kim Ward cc: Governor Tom Wolf wag/r Senator Wayne Langerhole ?4771" Senator Scott Martin Senator Bob Mensch Senator Joe Pittman 47m; art/4% Senator Mario Scavello air/2W Senator Robert Tomlinson %U\Ju~k_ Senator udy Ward Senator Gene Yaw