Michael Coyne Turzai (born August 2, 1959) is an American politician and former Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives who served as Speaker of the House. He is from Allegheny County and represented the 28th legislative district between 2001 and 2020. His district included the municipalities of Pine Township, Marshall Township, Bradford Woods, Franklin Park, and McCandless. Turzai served as the House Majority Leader from 2011 until 2015, and was elected Speaker in January 2015. He was a candidate for Governor of Pennsylvania in 2018 until he suspended his campaign in February 2018. He resigned from his House seat in 2020; after leaving office, he became general counsel for Peoples Gas, a subsidiary of Essential Utilities.
Education and personal life Turzai was born in Sewickley, Pennsylvania. He grew up in Moon Township and attended Our Lady of the Sacred Heart High School in Coraopolis. He earned a B.A. in English from the University of Notre Dame in 1981 and his J.D. degree from Duke University School of Law in 1987.
Turzai is married to Lidia Turzai, a pediatrician. They have three children and live in Marshall Township in Allegheny County.
Early career Turzai was an assistant district attorney for Allegheny County from 1988 to 1992, when he joined Houston Harbaugh, a law firm in Pittsburgh. He practiced law with Houston Harbaugh through 2004, and remains Of counsel with them.
Prior to serving in the legislature, Turzai served as the vice president of the Bradford Woods Borough Council. He was also a former representative to the Republican State Committee in 2000.
He is also a former member of the Pine-Marshall-Bradford Woods Police Board.
Political career 1998 U.S. House of Representatives election In 1998 Turzai ran to represent the 4th District in the U.S. House against Democratic incumbent Ron Klink. He won the Republican primary by a large margin, with 54.25% of the vote to David F. Miller's 24.45% and Paul Adametz's 21.26%, but was defeated by Klink in the general election, 64-36%.He was strongly criticized by local media for hiring a helicopter to circle over his opponent's home, and for hiring a camera crew to ambush his opponent.
2001 special election In 2001 he was elected to the Pennsylvania House, winning every precinct in the 28th district against attorney Thomas Dancison in a special election to fill the seat of Jane Orie, who had replaced Melissa Hart in the state Senate in 2000.
In November 2010 Turzai was elected majority leader after the elections which gave the House a 21-seat majority by Republicans. He had also previously served as minority whip.
He was majority leader from 2011 to 2014.
Turzai was House Majority Leader in June 2011 when it passed the amended "Fair Share Act", a tort reform bill that largely repealed Pennsylvania's common law doctrine of joint and several liability.
On November 15, 2016, Turzai was chosen by House Republicans to be speaker-designee of the House of Representatives. On January 6, 2017, he was unanimously elected as Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for a second term.
Committees Because of his role as Speaker, Turzai sits on all committees in an ex-officio capacity. He actively serves on the Committee on Committees and the Committee on Rules.
Legislative ratings and endorsements In 2017 Turzai was given a 91% rating by the National Federation of Independent Business (which endorsed him in October 2016) and an 80% rating by the American Conservative Union.
In 2016 he was given a 0% rating by the Sierra Club but a 25% rating by the Sierra Club PA. That same year he received a 92% rating by the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry.
The NRA Political Victory Fund endorsed Turzai in 2014 with an "A" rating. As of 2017 he holds a 93% NRA rating.
2018 gubernatorial campaign
On November 14, 2017 Turzai officially announced he would run for governor in 2018, challenging Democratic incumbent Tom Wolf. Others in the Republican primary field included Scott Wagner, R-York; Paul Mango, a former health care director with McKinsey & Company; and Jones Day attorney Laura Ellsworth.
During the primary race Turzai also ran to retain his 28th District House seat, defending against Democrat Emily Skopov; had he won the primary, Turzai would have been required to vacate his legislative seat. He remained speaker throughout the election season.
During a campaign stop in December 2017, Turzai said as governor he would prioritize "Fiscal responsibility, a balanced budget, school accountability and increased investments in career and technical education." He said that if he was unable to bring about those changes during a first term, he would not seek a second term. State representative Kathy Rapp and state Senator Scott Hutchinson endorsed his candidacy with supporting remarks.
As of February 2018, Turzai had $1.2 million in his campaign account.
On February 10, 2018, Turzai announced to the state Republican Party Committee that he would no longer be running for governor, following the party endorsement of Scott Wagner.
Retirement
On January 23, 2020, Turzai announced from his district office that he would be retiring from office at the end of his current term, to seek opportunities in the private sector. Turzai later announced that he would retire on June 15, 2020, prior to the end of his term. One day after leaving office, Turzai was named general counsel for Peoples Natural Gas. At the time the appointment was announced, commentators noted Turzai's support of the natural gas industry while he served as a state representative.
Issues
Cannabis Turzai is vehemently against the legalization of medical cannabis in Pennsylvania. He was reported to break down in tears when discussing the subject in a meeting with the GOP caucus. Turzai is also fiercely opposed to legalizing adult-use cannabis in the state.
Education In 2010, one of Turzai's top campaign contributors was the Pennsylvania State Education Association, which represents more than 187,000 Pennsylvania teachers and educators. The association gave him $22,500.
In September 2016 Turzai advocated increasing tax credits to Pennsylvania businesses that contributed to scholarship funds that help low income people send their children to private schools.
On October 26, 2017, Turzai publicly asked several public universities within Pennsylvania to freeze tuition for the 2018-2019 school year for in-state residents. The universities that he asked were the University of Pittsburgh, Penn State University, Temple University, and Lincoln University. After a state budget was passed at the end of October, those schools along with the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine stood to receive more than $600 million for the 2017-2018 fiscal year.
Also in October 2017, Turzai voted yes on HB 178 to amend the Pennsylvania Public School Code in various ways. Through his yes vote on the bill, Turzai supported: allowing school boards to suspend teachers for various reasons, including economic reasons, and that suspensions must be based on performance ratings; making schools practice armed intruder or terrorism drills; delaying the use of the Keystone Exams as a graduation requirement until the 2019-2020 school year; and requiring schools to provide a school meal to any student who asks for one, regardless of ability to pay. The bill also requires instruction on opioid abuse to students in grades 6-12.
In December 2016, Turzai announced that he would author a bill to increase tax credits for education. Specifically, his bill would "increase the amount of tax credits available under the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program by $50 million (to $175 million) and the amount of tax credits available under the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) program by $25 million (to $75 million)." He said his purpose in introducing the legislation was to increase school choice and "help more students escape from failing schools."
Turzai introduced three education-related bills during the 2017 session: HB 202: Creates certain exemptions from the Keystone high school graduation exam for career and technical education (CTE) students. Passed the legislature and was signed into law on June 21, 2017, becoming Act No. 6. HB 250: Increases tax credits for certain state educational tax credit programs. Passed the House on March 13, 2017, but not signed into law. HB 700: Increases the number of seats in charter schools. The bill didn't pass either legislative chamber.
Guns On April 1, 2008, Turzai voted against an amendment to HB 1845 (Reporting Missing Firearms). The amendment would have made it a summary offense, first degree misdemeanor, and then a third-degree felony (for each subsequent violation) for a person to fail to report a lost or stolen firearm to law enforcement within three days of discovering it missing.
On October 5, 2010, he voted in favor of HB 40 (Self Defense Law Amendments), which passed the House by a vote of 159-38. The bill would have expanded the sets of circumstances in which a person would be allowed to use force for self-defense.
In October 2014, Turzai voted in favor of HB 1243 (Authorizes Civil Action against Local Firearm Laws). The bill would have authorized "any 'individual adversely affected' by any firearm law enacted by a county, municipality, or township to seek declaratory or injunctive relief and actual damages in an appropriate court," according to Project Vote Smart.
Hate crimes In 2017, Turzai cosponsored HR 161, "A Resolution condemning acts of hate and vandalism against the Jewish community."
Health care During a campaign stop in 2017, Turzai said that growing jobs in the private sector is the key to providing people with good health insurance. "The private sector providing family sustaining jobs is the key to making sure our folks have good health benefits," he said.
Keystone Energy Enhancement Act On December 20, 2016, Turzai introduced the Keystone Energy Enhancement Act, which he had sponsored in previous legislative sessions. The bill would set up 20 "Keystone Energy Enhancement Zones" across the state. Within these zones, natural gas, manufacturing, and petrochemical companies which operate within the zones would receive numerous tax deductions, exemptions, and credits for 10 years, as well as a $1,250 tax credit for each full-time job created within a zone.
Natural gas severance tax Turzai has been opposed to a severance tax and impact fee on natural gas. During his campaign for governor, Tom Wolf pledged to tax Marcellus Shale. Turzai opposed Wolf's plan.
In July 2017, the Pennsylvania State Senate leadership proposed a tax that would vary based on market prices. In September 2017, a Pennsylvania House committee voted 15-11 along party lines to amend a bill to "rechristen" the impact fee that has been assessed on shale gas wells since 2012 as a severance tax. Turzai spoke at a news conference sponsored by opponents of the shale tax. He said that he is "steadfastly opposed" to the push for a vote on the bill as well as a vote on the severance tax itself.
At the end of October 2017, the state legislature passed a budget and sent it to Governor Wolf for his signature. The revenue bills as part of the budget did not contain a new tax on natural gas drilling companies, which the governor had wanted but Turzai opposed. However, after receiving the budget from the legislature, the governor continued to push for a natural gas severance tax. Earlier in 2017, the governor had proposed a 6.5% severance tax on natural gas production.
Privatization of liquor stores In Pennsylvania alcohol is sold through a state-run chain of stores called Fine Wine & Good Spirits. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board owns and operates 600 of these stores throughout the state.