By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times - Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Pennsylvania legislators approved late Tuesday a resolution to scrap the governor’s pandemic shutdown order, setting up a showdown between the Republican-controlled legislature and Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf.

Legislators argued that Mr. Wolf had exceeded his authority on June 3 by renewing the disaster order for another 90 days and that state law allows the legislature to overturn a state-of-disaster emergency order.

“Tonight, the House passed HR 836 — ending the emergency declaration in Pennsylvania,” House Majority Leader Bryan Cutler said in a statement. “It was a bipartisan vote in favor of businesses, workers and families who are already doing their part to slow the spread of the virus and can work safely in our current conditions.”

What happens next is unclear. Mr. Wolf has said he will not approve HR 836, which saw a dozen House Democrats and two Senate Democrats cross party lines to support it, but Republicans argued that the concurrent resolution does not require the governor’s approval to take effect.

Wolf spokesperson Lyndsay Kensinger reiterated late Tuesday that the governor would “disapprove” the measure.

“When the concurrent resolution is presented to him, as the Constitution requires, he will disapprove it,” she said in a statement to ABC27. “Until then, no action will be taken. The disaster proclamation has not been terminated by the House or Senate’s actions. Only the governor can terminate the disaster emergency.”

Mr. Wolf thanked residents on Wednesday for their sacrifices during the novel coronavirus pandemic and shutdown.

“Pennsylvanians have made tremendous sacrifices since #COVID19 first reached the commonwealth in March,” he tweeted. “Your hard work has protected your neighbors and saved lives. Thank you.”

Mr. Cutler accused the governor of executive overreach by using “the power afforded to him under this declaration without input from the Legislature, suspending state laws, spending money without legislative approval, and his most unfair action of all, shutting down the family-sustaining careers of millions of Pennsylvanians.”

Nathan Benefield, vice president of the free-market Commonwealth Foundation in Harrisburg, argued that under the state Constitution, the legislature “has clearly rescinded the emergency authority granted to Gov. Wolf to suspend laws and shutter businesses,” adding that the situation has little precedent.

“We’ve never had this situation happen before because we’ve never had a governor as interested in keeping unilateral power as Wolf,” Mr. Benefield said.

He said the state’s shutdown “was earlier, more expansive, and had fewer exemptions than most other states, resulting in an unemployment spike,” citing a report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

Mr. Wolf participated in a protest march against social injustice last week in Philadelphia, wearing a face mask but not always social-distancing, as shown in photos, prompting Republicans to accuse him of hypocrisy for violating his own order.

Ms. Kensinger told PennLive that he did so after five days of protests “in an attempt to show solidarity and urge de-escalation so we can address the issues of structural inequality without violence.”

“This was not something the governor would prefer or recommend, but he thought it was necessary to help the commonwealth,” she said. “Throughout the pandemic, the governor has made limited allowances for constitutionally protected speech including protests and religious services.”

• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.

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