Governor Tom Wolf said yesterday that voters should reject two constitutional amendment questions that would limit his powers during an emergency because they are “futile gestures aimed at a crisis that has passed” and a governor must have the ability to act quickly without waiting for the legislature to deliberate and make a decision.
The questions will appear on the Primary ballot on Tuesday. One requires the legislature’s approval to extend a governor’s disaster declaration beyond an initial 21 days. The other gives the legislature the power to end a disaster declaration without the governor’s approval.
Wolf said in a news conference in Pittsburgh that the legislature already has the power to limit his powers, by crafting a bill that would survive a veto with a two-thirds majority vote.
Current state law gives the governor unilateral authority to declare an emergency for 90 days and to extend it an unlimited amount of times, which Wolf has done repeatedly since the pandemic began.
The Republican-controlled legislature wants a say in emergency disaster declarations. Lawmakers say Wolf has done incalculable damage to the economy by shutting down the state. House Republican Caucus spokesman Jason Gottesman responded to Wolf’s news conference by saying that the amendments “reinsert the General Assembly – the voice of the people – into (the) discussions.” He said Wolf has mounted a “campaign of disinformation” about the amendments.
Comments