Whether Vanessa Lowery Brown submits a letter of resignation or not, the presiding officer of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives has determined she is effectively “terminated” with her sentencing earlier Friday on a felony bribery count.

Brown, 52, who was sentenced to 23 months' probation plus restitution of $4,000 to the state, declined to respond Friday when asked if she will be resigning from the West Philadelphia seat she was re-elected to without opposition earlier this month.

Her attorney Pat Casey also deflected questions about resignation, saying only that “now that she has been sentenced, that’ll be the next issue that she deals with.”

But others did have answers about Brown’s immediate future as a House member.

It is the determination of House Speaker MIke Turzai, R-Allegheny County, that “her (Brown’s) tenure in the General Assembly ended with her sentencing today,” said Neil Lesher, Turzai’s legislative and policy director. Nor will she receive a paycheck for December, the nominal first month of the 2019-20 session.

The state Constitution explicitly states that no person convicted of bribery is eligible to hold a seat in the legislative or other “office of trust or profit in this Commonwealth.”

If Brown did come to the Capitol on Jan. 1 with the expectation of being sworn in for a sixth term, Lesher added, his expectation is that a formal objection to her seating would be raised by another member, leading to a floor vote on her qualification for service.

The 190th District seat will be filled by special election sometime next year, Lesher said.

One theory on Brown’s silence circulating around the Capitol Friday was that she is purposefully letting the clock run out on completion of her fifth term as a House member: Completion of 10 years' service in the House would leave her eligible for lifetime health care coverage.

She has also already fully vested for a state pension that, based on Brown’s 10 years of state employment, would pay her about $25,730 per year.

Brown won’t qualify for either as of today.

Bribery is one of the crimes that triggers a mandatory forfeiture of state pensions (except for initial contributions from Brown’s own paycheck, which are repaid without interest).

As for the House-paid insurance benefits, which carry premium costs of about $1,773 for a member with a dependent child, Lesher said House leaders also consider Brown to have fallen short of a full 5th term requirement with the sentencing at mid-day today.

But the strategy in resigning later, sources said, is that if Brown is successful in getting her conviction reversed on appeal - and we know she is appealing - she may be able to make a plausible case that she did serve the full 10 years and is entitled to a restoration of both the pension and health benefits.