Wolf ‘looks forward’ to revising state emergency declaration process

While Gov. Tom Wolf’s visit to GAR Memorial High School focused on his push to change the funding system for charter schools, he faced the inevitable question the morning after a statewide question on disaster emergency management: How did he view the fact that voters said the legislature should have more control over disaster declarations?

“We had a long period to see how the current system works, and there was some thought that we could to better,” Wolf said of the two questions giving more power over disaster declarations to the legislative branch. “So I’m looking forward to working with the legislature to figure out how to make this work.”

The two questions asked if the public approved an amendment to the state Constitution allowing the legislature to stop emergency declarations after a set time with a simple majority vote, rather than two-thirds majority currently required. Both questions garnered a bit more than 53% approval from voters.

Wolf said the state system has worked well in shorter emergencies such as hurricanes and flooding, but the pandemic presented a once-in-a-lifetime test of the system over months. The pandemic hit Pennsylvania in mid-March of last year, with Wolf ordering many businesses and all schools closed to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Critics say that and other moves were excessive, crippling the state’s economy.

“This was the first time people had a chance to see how it works over an extended pandemic,” Wolf said. Asked about concerns of having the legislature making decisions in an emergency and causing delays that shouldn’t happen when the administration is in control, Wolf said he had concerns about that possibility, “but let’s make it work.”