Pa. General Assembly Votes To Terminate Wolf's COVID-19 Emergency Declaration

By Marley Parish, Pennsylvania Capital-Star

June 11, 2021

For the first time in 15 months, Pennsylvania is no longer operating under a COVID-19 emergency declaration.

Using its newly expanded emergency powers, the GOP-controlled Legislature voted to end Gov. Tom Wolf’s pandemic disaster declaration this week. With a 30-20 Senate vote and 121-81 House vote, Wolf has no power to veto the resolution.

“For all practical purposes, the state of emergency in our commonwealth is over,” Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland, said on the floor. “Our businesses are open 100 percent. We have had less than 500 cases a day on the average over the past two weeks.”

All statewide COVID-19 restrictions, except the mask mandate, were lifted before Thursday’s vote. But the final vote brings to the end a long, running conflict between Pennsylvania’s elected chief executive and the elected legislature over how to address the pandemic.

Legislative Democrats accused Republicans of passing reckless legislation geared toward earning political points rather than protecting Pennsylvanians. They argued that expanded SNAP benefits and rent assistance programs would end with the resolution.

The declaration also suspended nearly 500 regulations — covering everything from medical care and dog kennel inspections to medical marijuana sales.

Industry groups, from restaurants to realtors, raised concerns about bringing these regulations back into force immediately. So, the General Assembly also passed legislation Thursday that keeps the regulations lapsed through Sept. 30.

Though Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Allegheny, disagreed with ending the disaster declaration, he said the Legislature reached a compromise by extending waivers. Costa and other Democrats added that they think the resolution should take effect once the May 18 primary election results are certified.

“Ending the disaster declaration while preserving critical waivers for telemedicine, health care staffing, and other priorities fulfills the promise we made to Pennsylvanians to protect lives and livelihoods,” Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R-Centre, said in a statement. “The actions of the General Assembly will finally allow our commonwealth to move forward from the pandemic and begin our recovery without the looming threat of new shutdowns or restrictions.”

On Wednesday, the Senate passed a “vaccine passport” bill that would ban the health secretary from enacting stay-at-home orders, mask mandates, and business closures. It would also prevent local and state government agencies and schools from enforcing the so-called “vaccine passports,” which document proof of a COVID-19 vaccination. It was sent to the House for consideration.

Capital-Star Staff Reporter Stephen Caruso contributed to this story.

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