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Who is Bryan Cutler, and why should you care?

It caps a long climb marked by perseverance that saw him work his way through college and law school as an X-ray technologist, and later run for office out of disgust over the 2005 legislative pay raise

  • Charles Thompson/PennLive
The new lineup of House Republican leaders addresses reporters.

 Katie Meyer / WITF

The new lineup of House Republican leaders addresses reporters.

(Harrisburg) — Has the revolution been institutionalized?

Rep. Bryan Cutler, a Lancaster County Republican who came to the state legislature in 2006 on the crest of a uniquely Pennsylvanian voter revolt over legislative pay raises, has now become House Majority Leader, arguably one of the five or six most powerful positions at the Capitol.

Cutler was voted overwhelmingly to the GOP’s floor leader post Tuesday in a closed-door meeting of 110 GOP members freshly elected to serve in the 2019-20 session.

For Cutler, 43, it caps a long climb marked by perseverance that saw him work his way through college and law school as an X-ray technologist, and later run for office out of disgust over a 2:00 a.m., double-digit percentage pay raise that lawmakers voted themselves in the summer of 2005.

As House majority leader, he will replace Rep. David Reed from Indiana County, who opted against seeking a new term this year.

Many around the Capitol expect that, for starters, that should make for a more cohesive House majority leadership team then was evident through much of Gov. Tom Wolf’s first term, when House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny County, on more than one occasion spiked deals Reed negotiated with Wolf and the state Senate.

Several observers, on and off the record, said they don’t expect that to happen anymore.

A) Cutler is seen as a closer fit ideologically to Turzai than the more-moderate Reed, and B) As a first-time leader, he is likely to pay more attention to the ideological center of his caucus than Reed, who had a tendency to agree to compromises that he ultimately couldn’t sell to a majority of his members.

“I think that philosophically, strategically and tactically, Bryan Cutler is going to be more frequently on the same page as Mike Turzai,” said outgoing Rep. Steve Bloom, R-Carlisle.

When the two men do differ, another outgoing GOP lawmaker observed, at least in the near-term, the mercurial Turzai’s view will likely carry the day.

“I think Bryan will have some different ideas,” the member, who asked not to be identified, said, “but if the Speaker pushes back… I think Bryan understands that he was hand-picked for the role by Turzai, and I think he’ll be loyal and do whatever Turzai wants.”

Others wondered Tuesday if the House GOP could juststraight up revert, at least in the short term, to a strong Speaker model – a la John Perzel from 2003 through 2006 – when Philadelphian Perzel was essentially serving as a Speaker / Majority Leader combo.

Tim Lambert / WITF

The state Capitol building in Harrisburg.

Whatever happens, the changes should lead to House Rs bringing a more committed, conservative position to end-stage negotiations on big tax and spending bills, many believe. The Republican caucus is already expected to be slightly more conservative as a whole, given several leading moderates’ defeat or retirements.

Cutler, speaking to reporters after his election, noted the major part of his job is representing his caucus members’ goals and objectives in policy discussions and law-making, so he will be very sensitive to finding solutions that at least a majority of the majority can support.

“I think my experience as Whip will help with that,” Cutler said. “I spent the last four years counting the caucus (on tough issues), and I’ll have the benefit of that experience.”

It’s not as clear yet what this will mean for state policy as a whole.

That, many said, will ultimately depend on Wolf’s second-term agenda, how tight the state’s finances are, and the personal objectives of the various personalities involved.

Democrats, for their part, offered an olive branch.

“We have worked together constructively before and I look forward to more of that next year,” Minority Leader Frank Dermody, D-Pittsburgh, said. “Representative Cutler is a thoughtful person and I expect he’ll be a good leader for the Republicans.”

But House Appropriations Committee Chairman Stan Saylor, R-Red Lion and the number three-person on the leadership team, attempted to draw one important line in the sand Tuesday afternoon with regard to the 2019-20 state budget.

With current-year revenues running almost 10 percent ahead of last year’s numbers, Saylor said, “the House Republicans are not in any shape or form going to support a tax increase of anything.”

Cutler’s story.

Cutler came into the state House the hard way, taking on two-term incumbent Gibson Armstrong in a Republican primary in 2006. He won fairly easily in a candidacy inspired by outrage over the controversial 2005 pay raise lawmakers voted themselves, and has had little trouble holding onto his southern Lancaster County seat ever since.

During his 12 years in the House, Cutler has been prominent in the Republicans’ ongoing battle against fraud and mismanagement in human services programs, advocated for the expansion of alternative-energy sources and crafted laws that make hospitals work more efficiently.

He has also been a leading sponsor of reforms that would end Pennsylvania’s practice of electing its statewide judges, and improve Pennsylvanians access to and insurance coverage for telemedicine services.

When he speaks of the virtues of self-reliance and perserverance, it’s from personal experience.

Both of Cutler’s parents were diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, commonly known as “Lou Gehrig’s disease,” while he was in high school. His father died during his senior year, and that influenced his decision to attend a local program to train to become an X-ray technologist.

“It was a good choice for me because I could live at home, help take care of the household, and” help support his ailing mother and younger sister.

Cutler then used his employment at a Lancaster hospital to help finance his way through Lebanon Valley College and, later, Widener Law School, where he graduated in 2006 just four days after winning the primary election that would propel him to the House.

Cutler took the bar exam during his first year in office, but has practiced only part-time while serving in the Legislature.

In the House, the married, father of three is repeatedly described by those who have worked with him as “engaged, smart, and thoughtful,” and has developed a reputation as a pragmatic conservative who many see as more than capable of working with others to reach compromises on major issues of the day.

What only time can tell, given the recent experience of Reed, Turzai’s domineering presence in the Speakership, and the strongly held views of members who elected him, is how much latitude Cutler have to do that.

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