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Mark Rozzi

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Mark Rozzi
140th Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
In office
January 3, 2023 (2023-01-03) – February 28, 2023 (2023-02-28)
Preceded byBryan Cutler
Succeeded byJoanna McClinton
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
from the 126th district
In office
January 1, 2013 – November 30, 2024
Preceded byDante Santoni
Succeeded byJacklyn Rusnock (elect)
Personal details
Born (1971-04-30) April 30, 1971 (age 53)
Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Other political
affiliations		Independent Democrat (2023)[a]
SpouseJacklyn Rusnock (divorced)[1]
Children1
EducationKutztown University (BA)
WebsiteCampaign website

Mark Lucio Rozzi[2] (born April 30, 1971) is an American politician who served as the 140th Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from January to February 2023. A member of the Democratic Party he represented the 126th district from 2013 to 2024.[3]

Background

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Rozzi was born on April 30, 1971, in Reading, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Muhlenberg High School in 1989 and earned a bachelor of arts degree in political science from Kutztown University.[2] Rozzi owned and operated his family’s construction business before selling it in 2018. Rozzi is divorced and has one daughter.[4][5]

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

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Rozzi was first elected to represent the 126th district in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 2012. He was subsequently elected to five more terms.[2]

During his first term, Rozzi introduced a bill that would have legalized medically assisted death. The bill stemmed from Rozzi watching his father die of a terminal brain tumor, but it was never voted on.

In 2022, Rozzi was one of just four House Democrats who voted in favor of a ban on transgender athletes participating in youth sports.[4]

On October 21, 2023, Rozzi announced that he would not seek re-election to his state house seat, opting instead to run for Pennsylvania Auditor General.[6] He later dropped out of the race in January 2024, citing mental health issues stemming from sexual abuse as a child.[1]

Relief for survivors of sex abuse

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Rozzi was sexually abused and raped by a priest in the Roman Catholic Church as a child. Making it easier for victims to bring charges and file lawsuits against the accused has been one of his political objectives,[7] as well as the reason why he ran for state representative after a friend abused by the same priest committed suicide.[4][8] Following a grand jury report detailing of cover-up of church sex abuse, Rozzi led an effort to give relief to survivors via new legislation. In 2019, Governor Tom Wolf signed into a law package of legislation that removed temporal constraints on filing charges against perpetrators of sexual abuse. Amidst the package of reforms was an amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution which would retroactively repeal the statute of limitations on sexual abuse. The amendment had to be approved by two successive legislative sessions before being put forward in a referendum.[9] However, a 2021 clerical error by Wolf's administration caused the final passage of the amendment to be pushed back even further.[10]

Speaker of the House

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On January 3, 2023, Rozzi was elected as Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, following speculation and disputes over which party controlled the legislature; in the 2022 election, Democrats won a majority of seats, but three vacancies technically gave Republican a 101-99 majority. Rozzi was nominated by Republican Representative Jim Gregory as a compromise candidate, earning bipartisan support. Following his election, Rozzi said he would govern as an independent and not caucus with either party. However, according to private conversations with fellow Democrats, Rozzi would not change his party registration.[11][12][13] His private comments saying he would remain in the Democratic Party caused controversy with the Republicans who voted him for speaker, including Gregory, who said Rozzi should resign. According to Gregory and others, Rozzi repeatedly told them he would leave the Democratic Party and officially register as an independent should he be elected speaker.[14][15]

As Speaker, Rozzi said his first priority would be to finally pass the amendment to Pennsylvania's constitution to allow victims of sexual abuse a two year gap in the statute of limitations for them to sue their abusers. Governor Wolf called a special session of the legislature so such the amendment could be passed the required second time. However, Republicans in the State Senate combined the amendment on sexual abuse survivors with two others to require voter ID and regulatory reform.[14][16][17] Rozzi opposed the addition of the two other amendments and pushed for legislation making the sex abuse survivors amendment separate from the other two.[18] He was successful on February 24, with an amendment solely concerning victim relief passing 161-40. However, State Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman declined to bring the singular amendment to a vote.[19]

On February 28, Rozzi resigned as Speaker of the House and returned to the Democratic Caucus.[20]

Electoral history

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2012 Pennsylvania House of Representatives Democratic primary election, District 126[21]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mark Rozzi 2,820 58.82
Democratic Frank B. Denbowski 1,592 33.21
Democratic John A. Delcollo 381 7.95
Write-in 1 0.02
Total votes 4,794 100.00
2012 Pennsylvania House of Representatives election, District 126[22]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mark Rozzi 16,811 70.21
Republican James R. Billman 7,119 29.73
Write-in 13 0.05
Total votes 23,943 100.00
2014 Pennsylvania House of Representatives election, District 126[23]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mark Rozzi 10,687 99.46
Write-in 58 0.54
Total votes 10,745 100.00
2016 Pennsylvania House of Representatives election, District 126[24]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mark Rozzi 20,479 99.79
Write-in 43 0.21
Total votes 20,522 100.00
2018 Pennsylvania House of Representatives election, District 126[25]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mark Rozzi 15,291 99.6
Write-in 62 0.4
Total votes 15,353 100.0
2020 Pennsylvania House of Representatives election, District 126[26]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mark Rozzi 18,508 67.30
Republican James D. Oswald 8,961 32.59
Write-in 30 0.11
Total votes 27,499 100.00
2022 Pennsylvania House of Representatives election, District 126[27]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mark Rozzi 11,613 63.98
Republican James Daniel Oswald 6,539 36.02
Total votes 18,152 100.00

Notes

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  1. ^ During his tenure as speaker, Rozzi remained a registered Democrat but did not caucus with the party.

References

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  1. ^ a b Ulrich, Steve (January 31, 2024). "Rozzi Leaves Auditor General Race, Politics, To Focus On Mental Health". PoliticsPA. Retrieved January 31, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "Mark Rozzi". Pennsylvania House of Representatives Archives. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  3. ^ "SESSION OF 2013 - 197TH OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY - No. 1" (PDF). Legislative Journal. Pennsylvania House of Representatives. January 1, 2013.
  4. ^ a b c Couloumbis, Angela; Caruso, Stephen (January 6, 2023). "What Mark Rozzi's record can tell us about what kind of Pa. House speaker he'll be". Spotlight PA. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
  5. ^ Scolforo, Mark (January 31, 2023). "Unexpected Pennsylvania House speaker hopes to retain job". AP News. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  6. ^ "Pa. Rep. Mark Rozzi enters 2024 race for state auditor general". October 21, 2023.
  7. ^ Goodstein, Laurie (August 18, 2018). "Sex Abuse and the Catholic Church: Why Is It Still a Story? - The New York Times". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 18, 2018. Retrieved August 18, 2018.
  8. ^ Murphy, Jan (October 23, 2023). "Rep. Mark Rozzi announces bid for auditor general: 'It's a really good fit for me'". PennLive Patriot-News. Advance Local Media LLC. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
  9. ^ Miller, Cassie (November 26, 2019). "In Reading, Wolf signs child sex abuse statute reforms into law". Pennsylvania Capital-Star. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  10. ^ Caruso, Stephen (January 25, 2023). "Hopes of bipartisan cooperation give way to complete deadlock in the Pa. House". Spotlight PA. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
  11. ^ Caruso, Stephen; Huangpu, Kate; Meyer, Kate (January 3, 2023). "Democrats and a handful of Republicans picked the Pennsylvania House's new speaker". Spotlight PA.
  12. ^ Seidman, Andrew; McGoldrick, Gillian. "Mark Rozzi, a Democrat-turned-independent, is now speaker of the Pa. House after a surprise vote". MSN. The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
  13. ^ Lehman, Tom (January 9, 2023). "Pennsylvania lawmaker calls for House speaker to resign". WGAL News 8 Local. Hearst Television Inc. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  14. ^ a b McGoldrick, Gillian (January 12, 2023). "Pennsylvania still hasn't heard from House Speaker Mark Rozzi after his surprise election, and it's been over a week". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
  15. ^ Siwy, Bruce (January 16, 2023). "The new Pennsylvania speaker of the House is already on thin ice. What may come next". Pocono Record. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
  16. ^ Smeltz, Adam (January 26, 2023). "Pa. House Speaker Mark Rozzi kicks off 'listening tour' in Pittsburgh as Harrisburg remains gridlocked". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PG Publishing Co. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
  17. ^ Valente, Mike (January 25, 2023). "'I will keep the doors of the House locked': Speaker Rozzi not wavering from decision to adjourn". Pittsburgh Action News 4. Hearst Television Inc. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
  18. ^ Murphy, Jan (February 8, 2023). "Rozzi wants justice for child sex abuse survivors more than Pa. House speakership". PennLive Patriot-News. Advance Local Media LLC. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  19. ^ Murphy, Jan (February 24, 2023). "Pa. House votes to allow childhood sexual abuse survivors to sue". PennLIVE Patriot-News. Advance Local Media LLC. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  20. ^ Caruso, Stephen (February 28, 2023). "PA House Speaker Mark Rozzi steps down". Spotlight PA. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  21. ^ "APRIL 24, 2012 GENERAL PRIMARY CERTIFIED RESULTS GRAND TOTALS" (PDF). Berks County, Pennsylvania. p. 5. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  22. ^ "November 6, 2012 General Election Certified Precinct Results" (PDF). Berks County, Pennsylvania. p. 4. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  23. ^ "NOVEMBER 4, 2014 GENERAL ELECTION CERTIFIED GRAND TOTAL RESULTS" (PDF). Berks County, Pennsylvania. p. 2. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  24. ^ "NOVEMBER 8, 2016 GENERAL ELECTION CERTIFIED GRAND TOTAL RESULTS" (PDF). Berks County, Pennsylvania. p. 4. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  25. ^ "NOVEMBER 6, 2018 GENERAL ELECTION CERTIFIED GRAND TOTALS" (PDF). Berks County, Pennsylvania. p. 2. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  26. ^ "Summary Results Report 2020 General November 3, 2020 OFFICIAL RESULTS BERKS COUNTY" (PDF). Berks County, Pennsylvania. November 25, 2020. p. 5. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  27. ^ "2022 General Election Tuesday, November 8, 2022 Official Returns BERKS". electionreturns.pa.gov. Pennsylvania Department of State. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
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Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
from the 126th district
2013–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
2023 		Succeeded by
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