As the 2021-22 legislative session gets underway in Pennsylvania, it will be shy two members right from the start with Saturday’s passing of Westmoreland County Republican Rep. Mike Reese and the Senate GOP leader’s decision to not seat anyone to represent the 45th state senatorial district due to an election challenge. There are 25 representatives in the House’s freshmen class and five in the Senate’s. The number of women in the two chambers currently sets a new record of 73, topping the number at the start of the last session by 11. That breaks down to 14 in the Senate and 59 in the House. However, with a vacancy in each chamber the possibility remains that a new record could be set later this session. The party breakdown of the chambers at the start of this session is 112 Republicans and 90 Democrats in the House and in the Senate, 28 Republicans, one independent who caucuses with the Republicans, and 20 Democrats.
