In Pittsburgh appearance, Wolf urges residents not to limit his office's emergency powers

Gov. Tom Wolf on Wednesday urged voters in Allegheny County to vote against two ballot questions that would limit the governor’s authority in a declared emergency.

One ballot question asks voters to amend the Pennsylvania Constitution to require the governor to seek lawmakers’ approval to continue an emergency declaration past 21 days. The other seeks to give the General Assembly the power to end a disaster declaration without the governor’s approval.

“These amendments are futile gestures aimed at a crisis that has passed and pain that we’ve all felt that will not be erased, ever,” Wolf said in a Downtown Pittsburgh news conference.

The referendums come after months of criticism from Republicans aimed at Wolf’s pandemic-related stay-at-home order, business closures and continued restrictions meant to slow the spread of the virus.

Republicans have said the amendments will restore checks and balances in the government.

“What these amendments would ultimately do is reinsert the General Assembly — the voice of the people — into these discussions,” said Jason Gottesman, spokesman for the House Republican Caucus.

Wolf said the amendments will hamstring efforts to help communities in crises.

“Changing the rules doesn’t change the fact that that crisis happened, or that crises like that are going to happen again,” Wolf said. “If a community needs help, the state must be there to help. We don’t have to wait upon 250 within the legislature to deliberate on the issue and make a decision.”

Gottesman called Wednesday’s media conference part of a “campaign of disinformation,” one of several, he alleged, meant to “skew the facts and sow fear and division among Pennsylvanians” looking for information on the ballot initiatives.

Wolf, however, said the state constitution already builds in checks and balances when it comes to emergency declarations.

“If the legislature doesn’t like what I’m doing in any crisis, it can stop me — right now,” he said. “The current ballot question simply asks voters to make that a lot easier to do.”

Currently, a governor can veto a resolution seeking to end a declaration passed by legislators. The General Assembly needs a two-thirds majority vote in both chambers to override the governor’s veto. Similarly, current emergency declarations last for 90 days, and the governor can renew them time and again, as Wolf has done since the pandemic was declared last year.

Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald joined Wolf in calling on residents to vote May 18 against the amendments. He said, as things stand right now, the governor is able to work with health professionals and gather a variety of input when it comes to making emergency declaration decisions.

“What this referendum will do is put the decision-making in basically two people’s hands: The majority leader of the Senate and the speaker of the House,” Fitzgerald said, noting emergency declarations aren’t limited to a pandemic, but can vary from hurricanes and flooding to terrorist attacks.

“We need to make sure that our experts … make professional decisions, not the special interest of a few elected leaders who represent a tiny minority of the legislature,” he said.