Joe Scarnati

HARRISBURG — The state Senate's top leaders will keep their posts in the new session, although Sen. Joe Scarnati also will hold the gavel as lieutenant governor and two new faces will join budget negotiations, Senate officials said Thursday.

Both Republicans and Democrats met separately behind closed doors to elect new party leaders for the 2009-10 legislative session that begins Dec. 1.

The majority Republicans renominated Scarnati, of Jefferson County, to a second term as president pro tempore, and he is expected to be elected to that position in January by the full Senate.

As the top senator, Scarnati is constitutionally obligated to assume the duties of lieutenant governor for the late Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll, who died Nov. 12 after a four-month battle with cancer.

Scarnati's elevation to lieutenant governor creates a situation in which a Republican is part of the Democratic administration of Gov. Ed Rendell, although Scarnati will not have a role in the administration's day-to-day operations or policymaking.

Speaking with reporters Thursday, Scarnati did not dismiss the idea that he could use the position of lieutenant governor to advance his or his party's positions on important issues.

"I'll use the position as designated by the constitution and certainly continue to work on issues that are very important to me and important to this caucus, and if that position comes into play to help, then I'll certainly use it to help," Scarnati said.

Scarnati, a frequent critic of Rendell's policies, also said the Legislature should have a greater role in deciding how to cut spending to offset the state's deepening budget deficit.

It is "debatable by some" whether the spending freezes ordered by Rendell thus far can be carried out without legislative approval, he said.

"I think that the governor has moved forward in a fashion that Republicans are happy to see, but it has to be broad-based cuts, it can't be just programs that are either favored or disfavored by one party or the other, so we need to have a consensus here," Scarnati said.

Republicans, who hold a 29-20 majority in the Senate, re-elected floor leader Dominic Pileggi of Delaware County to a second term.

Democrats re-elected their longtime floor leader, Robert J. Mellow of Lackawanna County.

The chairmanships on the Senate Appropriations Committee, which handles bills that affect state spending, were up for grabs since the senators in those posts retired.