Sparks Fly: Pennsylvania Representatives Narrowly Pass Resolution Declaring 2023 the “Taylor Swift Era”
There was a bit of “Bad Blood” on the floor of the Pennsylvania State House Thursday.
Pennsylvania’s state House of Representatives approved a resolution to recognize 2023 as “The Taylor Swift Era,” but the vote was a squeaker, going 103 – 100 in the singer’s favor.
Pennsylvania is where Swift was born, though she now officially resides in Tennessee, a fact that was not lost on one of the nay-sayers.
Rep. Russ Diamond (R) praised Swift’s success, but called the resolution “silly” because the singer has since relocated to the Volunteer state.
“She crossed the border, she turned around and she looked at us and said…” at which point Diamond sang “we [are] never, ever, ever getting back together,” there on the House floor, according to reporting in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Republican members who voted against the resolution called it a waste of lawmakers’ time and taxpayers’ money, noting that residents of the Keystone state are still waiting for lawmakers to complete work on the state budget which is six months past due.
Rep. Wendy Fink (R) calculated that the House spent 1,589 hours this year considering resolutions, and said that considering resolutions should not be a function of state legislators.
But the representatives who did vote for the measure were able to quote Swift’s song lyrics too. House Speaker Joanna McClinton, (D) declared that resolutions are legislation, adding, “Apparently, the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate.”
That remark led to 11 more minutes of debate with some speakers singing or reciting lines from Swift songs to make their case for voting for or against the resolution. Diamond spoke again, asking his fellow lawmakers to “shake it off, shake, shake, shake, shake and vote no on this resolution.”
Rep. Maureen Madden (D) gave her reasons for approving the measure, saying that Swift’s no longer singing the breakup songs from her youth, and that currently, “she’s talking about a woman’s right to choose and bodily autonomy. Now she’s talking about saving our environment. Now she’s talking about registering to vote and it’s no wonder the 18- to-24-year-old demographic is largely Democrat.”
That caused Rep. Mike Jones (R) to say “I was fully prepared to vote yes until the last speaker so now I’ll be a no.”
Swift is well-known for encouraging her fans to register to vote, and one such plea on Instagram for Swifties to go to Vote.org to register reportedly caused the group to see a surge of more than 35,000 new voter registrations.
Voting for the Swift Era resolution was not exactly along party lines, though, with 94 Republicans and six Democrats opposing the bill. They were outvoted by 96 Democrats and seven Republicans, who crossed the aisle in favor of Swift.
The text of the resolution was effusive in its praise for Swift, calling her a “singular economic and cultural influence” demonstrating “the power of female agency, feminine ideas, feminine art and a distinctly feminine narrative.”
She has “transcended the role of pop star,” the resolution went on, recognizing her accomplishments throughout the past year. Swift “shines as a role model of courage, self-acceptance and self-determination, persisting in the face of personal and professional obstacles and challenges,” the resolution concluded.