Pennsylvania voters will decide whether to limit governor’s emergency powers
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The Pennsylvania House of Representatives on February 5 approved two constitutional amendments that will allow Pennsylvania voters to decide whether to limit the governor’s emergency powers.
The Pennsylvania State Senate previously approved the constitutional amendments on January 26. Both Republican-controlled chambers of the Pennsylvania General Assembly voted to approve the constitutional amendments largely along party lines.
The first constitutional amendment would limit a governor’s emergency disaster declaration to 21 days and allow state legislators to extend the declaration by passing a concurrent resolution. Under the current state constitution, the governor’s emergency disaster declaration can last up to 90 days and be extended indefinitely.
The second constitutional amendment would authorize the General Assembly to terminate an emergency disaster without the governor’s approval. When the General Assembly passed concurrent resolutions to terminate the governor’s coronavirus-related emergency disaster last summer, the state Supreme Court ruled that gubernatorial approval was required.
Republican lawmakers claim that the constitutional amendments would balance the separation of powers in the state and bring emergency power closer to the hands of the people. Democratic opponents, including Governor Tom Wolf (D), argue that the constitutional amendments seek to usurp executive power and would slow down the state’s emergency response by requiring legislative action.
The constitutional amendments will appear on the May 18, 2021, primary ballot.
Thirty-three state legislatures, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, have moved in 2021 to place limits on executive emergency authority as of February 8.
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