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'Let’s not detract from the high school experience’; Pa. House members urge Gov. Tom Wolf to sign high school sports bill
Penn ^ | 16 September A.D. 2020 | Jan Murphy

Posted on 09/16/2020 11:47:21 AM PDT by lightman

Monday is the deadline by which Gov. Tom Wolf must make a decision about whether to deny or grant local officials the exclusive authority to make decisions about holding school sports and activities and who can attend them.

Although the governor has publicly said he would veto the measure identified as House Bill 2787, a bipartisan band of House members gathered in the Ryan Office Building next to the state Capitol on Wednesday for a news conference to urge him to change his mind.

“It is truly time to give people their voice back and ensure children have their best and, in my opinion, complete educational opportunities,” said House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre County. “We encourage Governor Wolf to join the Legislature in this bipartisan effort in signing this bill once and for all.”

The legislation would grant public and non-public school officials control on decisions about holding interscholastic and other extra-curricular activities. Wolf has said that part of the legislation is unnecessary because local officials already have that authority.

However, lawmakers have said the measure is needed to ensure that remains the situation since the governor, through the use of the expanded powers he has as a result of the COVID-19 emergency disaster declaration, could take that authority away from them at any time.

The bill also would leave it up to local officials to decide how many people could attend. Currently, schools are limited to 250 at outdoor events and 25 at indoor events, including the activity’s participants, but no more than 50% of a venue’s capacity. Wolf’s spokeswoman has said that lifting those caps has the potential to lead to gatherings of thousands of people in close proximity which is “a well-known public health risk” in the midst of the pandemic.

Rep. Mike Reese, R-Westmoreland County, who sponsored the bill, said that one-size-fits-all approach to crowd limits doesn’t work in a diverse state like Pennsylvania. He said limiting attendance to 250 in a stadium that can seat thousands “simply doesn’t make sense,” let alone 25 for an indoor activity that could lead to some participants standing outside in a hallway or parking lot.

“Local officials know their facilities and have no less commitment to public safety than Governor Wolf,” Reese said. “Therefore, it makes sense that they should be able to make those decisions.”

Rep. Bill Kortz, D-Allegheny County, one of four Democratic House members who joined the few dozen Republicans at the news conference, said allowing students to participate in sports and extracurricular activities is all part of the “high school experience” along with allowing parents and family members to be there to cheer them on.

“Let’s not detract from the high school experience of these children," Kortz said.

Rep. Joe Emrick, R-Northampton County, built on that statement by sharing his own recollections of playing sports in high school and having his parents there to watch him. He said his father waited outside the locker room after every game to be the first to give him a “soft open arm hug” and tell him how proud he was, followed by a hug from his mother.

“Those are the memories I cherish the most of those experiences," Emrick said. “I could not fathom the notion that my parents could not come to a game to see me play.”

And there’s no making up for those moments, he added. “Once these time periods are gone, you never get it back. They cannot be recovered.”

So he and other lawmakers who spoke called on Wolf “respectfully” to reconsider his planned veto and sign the bill. Benninghoff said the governor has said he wants to work with the Legislature and signing this bill is a “golden opportunity to do that.”

If Wolf decides to veto it, leaders of the GOP-controlled House and Senate said a veto override vote would soon follow. The bill passed both chambers with enough bi-partisan support to achieve the two-thirds' majority needed for a veto override if the vote totals remain the same.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: education; highschoolsports; openpa; pennsylvania; plannedmic; sports; tommiethecommie
The attendance limitations were struck down by the US Western District Judge but this legislation is needed irrespective.

Wolf has gone into full howling derangement mode.

1 posted on 09/16/2020 11:47:21 AM PDT by lightman
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To: lightman

I hope Wolf drives around on I-81 without a seat belt in a Prius...


2 posted on 09/16/2020 11:49:38 AM PDT by EEGator
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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.

3 posted on 09/16/2020 11:52:56 AM PDT by lightman (I am a binary Trinitarian. Deal with it!)
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To: lightman

“High School Experience?”

That particular part of our culture can go away as far as I’m concerned. Here’s a novel idea: Use that time to teach kids things like the three “R’s” and how to not burn through their money once they move out of mom’s basement?


4 posted on 09/16/2020 12:06:23 PM PDT by cuban leaf (The political war playing out in every country now: Globalists vs Nationalists)
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To: cuban leaf

I’m rather certain that sports are after school and voluntary.
Would you like more fat ass, diabetic Americans?


5 posted on 09/16/2020 12:47:09 PM PDT by EEGator
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To: lightman

Allegheny County has it’s own health department, which has set an attendance limit of 100.

As a practical matter though nobody can figure out how to enforce it. Over 600 showed up for one particular game on Friday.


6 posted on 09/16/2020 12:50:35 PM PDT by Buckeye McFrog (Patrick Henry would have been an anti-vaxxer.)
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To: lightman

If it’s too dangerous to go to Math Class, it’s too dangerous to play Basketball.


7 posted on 09/16/2020 1:34:30 PM PDT by MattMusson (Sometimes the wind blows too much)
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To: EEGator

He drives around I-83 in an old 4 door Jeep Cherokee.


8 posted on 09/16/2020 1:43:32 PM PDT by lightman (I am a binary Trinitarian. Deal with it!)
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To: lightman

That’s dangerous too.


9 posted on 09/16/2020 1:48:48 PM PDT by EEGator
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To: cuban leaf

“Let’s not detract from the high school experience of these children,” Kortz said.
********
Learning needs to become the main experience, not spectator sports.


10 posted on 09/16/2020 1:59:35 PM PDT by Socon-Econ (adical Islam,)
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