Wolf says he will go to court to uphold his disaster declaration

Gov. Tom Wolf says he’s ready to go to court to defend his disaster declaration.

Wolf’s announcement came as state lawmakers ramped up attacks on the validity of the declaration. On Tuesday, they passed a resolution ordering the governor to rescind his June 3 extension of the 90-day disaster declaration he issued March 6 and said it is safe for the state to reopen now that the peak of the pandemic has passed.

Wolf defended his actions Wednesday. He noted stay-at-home orders issued at the beginning of the pandemic had expired but said he wanted to continue a measured reopening. He said ending the emergency disaster declaration prematurely “wouldn’t reopen a single business that was closed, and it wouldn’t make anyone safer.”

The governor said lifting the disaster declaration could remove the authority that allowed the administration to declare moratoriums on evictions and utility shut-offs, shield health care workers from covid-19 liability, issue emergency purchasing orders and adjust professional licensing authority that allowed the National Guard to provide services at understaffed long-term care facilities.

In a letter to members of the Legislature, he warned it also might end the ability of the state to access federal disaster funds.

The governor noted that Pennsylvania is among 19 states that have not seen an increase in virus numbers as they reopen and credited control measures and state residents’ responses with flattening the curve of the pandemic.

Lawmakers who approved the move to end the declaration, with a vote of 31-19 in the Senate and 121-81 in the House, were adamant that Wolf overreached his authority and that the resolution will be valid without his signature.

Although the state Supreme Court previously upheld the governor’s right to take broad action under the state’s Emergency Disaster law, different issues will be at play here.

Duquesne University law professor Bruce Ledewitz, a Pennsylvania constitutional law scholar, said both sides will have interesting arguments for the courts.

“I’m not sure how it’s going to turn out. But if you ask me who is right, I think on the statutory issue the Republicans are almost certainly right. The natural reading of the statue is that they don’t have to submit the resolution to him. Therefore, the question becomes whether a concurrent resolution without submitting it (for the governor’s approval) is constitutional,” he said.

Westmoreland County lawmakers unanimously approved the resolution to end the disaster declaration, while Allegheny County lawmakers in both the House and Senate were split.

Sen. Kim Ward, R-Hempfield, said Wolf has been able to make sweeping decisions under the disaster declaration without input from the Legislature. She introduced a constitutional amendment giving the Legislature the authority to end disaster declarations after 30 days.

“This is a constitutional crisis where every decision is unilaterally being made by one branch of government,” Ward said. “What (Wolf) initially did was to protect Pennsylvanians. But we did everything he asked, and he keeps moving the goal post.”

While the Senate approved Ward’s amendment, it would take the approval of both chambers in two consecutive legislative sessions as well as the approval by voters in a referendum.

Sen. Jim Brewster, D-McKeesport, was among the Democrats who voted to end Wolf’s declarations.

“(Wolf”s) actions, in concert with the efforts of the citizens of Pennsylvania to practice social distancing and quarantine, can be credited for getting the pandemic under control and saving lives,” Brewster said.

But he said those results mean it is time to reopen the economy.

State Rep. Eric Nelson, R-Hempfield, agreed. Citing the Supreme Court’s initial ruling upholding Wolf’s authority, he said it appears the court will side with the lawmakers and uphold their authority to end the declaration. He noted that the court’s opinion included the caveat that the state’s emergency disaster law “temporarily limits the Executive Order to 90 days unless renewed and provides the General Assembly with the ability to terminate the order at any time.”

State Rep. Mike Reese, R-Mt. Pleasant Township, said any court challenge by Wolf would be shortsighted.

“Obviously, I believe he should side with the millions of Pennsylvania families and businesses that want to go to work and resume their lives,” Reese said.

Wolf’s General Counsel, Gregory Schwab, declined to outline his legal strategy, saying only that he believes there is authority for both the orders issued by Wolf and state Secretary of Health Rachel Levine.