SURRA: OUT OF THE "WILDS" AND BACK TO THE HOUSE?

A Captain Renault post: The Capitol hallway rumors grow louder that former Democrat Rep. Dan Surra is in line to be the next Chief Clerk of the House. We posted this blog a couple weeks ago and since then the current Chief Clerk Roger Nick has been more public with his decision to retire.

This sounds like a plan by the House Dems and Rendell to get rid of the loud chorus of criticism Rendell has been facing for his hiring of Surra. Rendell has announced the likelihood of layoffs of state employees so the hiring of Surra by Rendell has been getting a huge dose of boos and catcalls from state employees and their union officials.

But by naming Surra as the Chief Clerk do the House Dems just transfer all of the criticism from Rendell's back to their own? Chief Clerk of the House is a plum job that pays close to $150,000/year. It's a nice reward for Surra's long tenure in the House. But the Chief Clerk has to be elected by the full House of Representatives so it will be interesting to see if the Republicans will go along with a Surra pick. Mid-state Republicans have been especially critical of Rendell's hiring of Surra and asked the Governor to fire him. Are these same Republicans going to go along quietly and vote for Surra as the new Chief Clerk of the House. Stay tuned - this should be interesting.