HARRISBURG — Having lost battle after battle to wrest control of Pennsylvania’s coronavirus response from Gov. Tom Wolf, the GOP-controlled legislature now wants voters to permanently weaken a governor’s emergency powers while boosting their own.
This week, Republican lawmakers — with help from a handful of Democrats — cleared the first hurdle to get a constitutional amendment on a future ballot that would allow the General Assembly to unilaterally end a disaster declaration.
The process is lengthy with no guaranteed outcome, but it has a major benefit for the GOP — unlike a piece of legislation, this approach doesn’t require Wolf’s approval. To send a question that would amend the Pennsylvania Constitution to voters, the House and Senate must approve a resolution during two consecutive sessions, a relatively easy task when one party controls both chambers.
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