Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

‘We need a change’; Pa. House plans to attempt to override governor’s veto of bill to bring an end to his COVID-19 disaster declaration
Pennlive ^ | 2 September A.D. 2020 | Jan Murphy

Posted on 09/02/2020 1:16:11 PM PDT by lightman

Saying Gov. Tom Wolf’s shutdown orders over the past 180 days have been disastrous for Pennsylvania businesses and families, House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff said Wednesday lawmakers will attempt to end the COVID-19 disaster declaration that the governor renewed this week for another 90 days.

“We need a change,” said Benninghoff, R-Centre County.

“We are asking all our members to join us on this anniversary of the 180 days of this shutdown to override the governor’s order and open Pennsylvania in an orderly fashion, keeping Pennsylvania safe and Pennsylvanians employed and most of all allowing them to earn a paycheck to take care of their families,” he said.

Benninghoff made this announcement at a Wednesday morning news conference in the Rotunda of the Ryan Office Building at the Capitol Complex where he was joined by about three dozen of his House Republican colleagues.

To accomplish that goal will require the support of 25 Democratic members along with that of the entire House Republican Caucus to override Wolf’s July 14 veto of House Resolution 836, which would allow the Legislature to force the governor to end a disaster declaration. Only 12 Democrats voted for that resolution when the House voted in June to send it to the governor.

Benninghoff said the consequences of the governor’s restrictions on restaurants and bars, along with restrictions on other businesses under the disaster declaration, are not a partisan issue.

“I think there’s a bipartisan concern about the sluggish economy,” he said. Democrats get the calls Republican lawmakers get from constituents facing hardships and Benninghoff noted Democrats have supported some of the Republicans’ past efforts to pass legislation that would reverse some of the governor’s orders related to his COVID-19 mitigation efforts. Wolf vetoed many of those bills.

House Democratic spokesman Bill Patton called the Republicans’ plans to attempt an override as Republican grandstanding.

“It’s all too predictable and sad,” Patton said. “Time and again House Republicans have tried to end the emergency prematurely, a mistake that would undo months of sacrifice and hard-won progress by Pennsylvanians and leave us unready for any resurgence. If we become the only state without such a declaration in place, our schools, hospitals, nursing homes, fire companies and local governments risk losing millions of dollars in federal funding.”

Patton further went on to say, “Rather than join House Republicans in looking backward 180 days, Democrats will instead look forward 89 days to Nov. 30 and the end of the current Republican majority.”

Wolf issued his first disaster declaration in March and has since twice renewed it. The governor has said he has been following the advice of public health experts in ordering the temporary closure of businesses statewide and limiting capacities of restaurants, bars, salons, and entertainment venues to slow the spread of the virus and keep hospitals from becoming overwhelmed.

Other lawmakers in attendance at the news conference said Pennsylvania has flattened the curve of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations are down and the state’s positivity rates are low. Citing these developments and other gains, the lawmakers said it is time to end the disaster declaration and the expanded powers it grants the governor that are causing significant economic harm to Pennsylvania and its economy.

“The commonwealth has achieved and exceeded the major COVID-19 mitigation objectives set before us throughout the governor’s 180 day and counting emergency shut down,” said House Health Committee Chairwoman Kathy Rapp, R-Warren County. “It is now time to open Pennsylvania.”

On Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 816 new coronavirus cases, raising the statewide total to 135,611. The number of new cases dropped steadily through the month of August. It’s been more than a month since the state last reported 1,000 new cases in a single day. It last happened on July 28 while in April that happened regularly.


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: openpa; plannedemic; rinos; tommiethecommie

PA House GOP members.

They would be more persuasive without the face diapers.

1 posted on 09/02/2020 1:16:11 PM PDT by lightman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: fatima; Fresh Wind; st.eqed; xsmommy; House Atreides; Nowhere Man; PaulZe; brityank; Physicist; ...

Pennsylvania Ping!

Please ping me with articles of interest.

FReepmail me to be added to the list.

2 posted on 09/02/2020 1:17:22 PM PDT by lightman (I am a binary Trinitarian. Deal with it!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Can they remove the tranny or are they too PC?


3 posted on 09/02/2020 1:18:11 PM PDT by proust (Justice delayed is injustice.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: lightman

Do it. Even if the Demo-scum vote against it, the vote needs to be taken. Announce it publicly and let public help “persuade” those who might be hesitant.


4 posted on 09/02/2020 1:19:01 PM PDT by Antoninus (The press has lost the ability to persuade. They retain the ability to foment a panic.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: lightman

Covid on the decline in PA: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/new-cases-50-states/pennsylvania


5 posted on 09/02/2020 1:19:06 PM PDT by 1Old Pro (#openupstateny)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: lightman

So when do they vote??


6 posted on 09/02/2020 1:20:56 PM PDT by workerbee (==)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: lightman

Any dem pa legislators that are up for election better vote to override. There won’t be any Biden coattails.


7 posted on 09/02/2020 1:39:17 PM PDT by Born to Conserve
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: proust
Can they remove the tranny or are they too PC?

Dr. DIY Dickless "Rachel" Levine serves by appointment of the Governor.

The most the Legislature could do is pass a "no confidence" resolution."

8 posted on 09/02/2020 1:44:26 PM PDT by lightman (I am a binary Trinitarian. Deal with it!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Antoninus

Agreed. All indications are that they are going to flip some Dems from purple areas of the state, but fall short of an override. But let them all stand on record.

Wolf today backtracked on banning spectators at high-school sports. Just a couple of weeks ago he wanted to ban the sports. So he is starting to feel the heat.


9 posted on 09/02/2020 2:18:09 PM PDT by Buckeye McFrog (Patrick Henry would have been an anti-vaxxer.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Buckeye McFrog

I don’t live in PA, but I sure hope by some miracle they can override the veto..and then will be followed by every state legislature in the nation.

And then they should pass laws limiting emergency powers and making it so that governors can never again govern by fiat. That’s not the American way.


10 posted on 09/02/2020 2:38:00 PM PDT by livius
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Buckeye McFrog

Maybe I’m missing it in the article — When do they take the vote?


11 posted on 09/02/2020 2:39:56 PM PDT by workerbee (==)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Buckeye McFrog

Hoe they caught wolfe ignoring restrictions yet?


12 posted on 09/02/2020 3:28:19 PM PDT by funfan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson