In his 66-page ruling, Judge Stickman asserted that, even in an emergency, the Wolf administration’s response to the pandemic cannot undermine our constitutional liberties or the system of checks and balances protecting those liberties. He said the constitution sets certain lines that simply may not be crossed, and the governor’s actions crossed the line. Wolf is appealing the judge’s ruling and requested a stay of Stickman’s order pending his appeal. On Tuesday, the court denied Wolf’s request.

In related action, Wolf vetoed legislation I co-sponsored that would ensure local control over decisions about school sports, extracurricular activities and spectators. House Bill 2787 would grant the governing authority of a school entity the exclusive authority to determine whether to hold school sports and extracurricular activities in-person during the 2020-21 school year.

School officials would be responsible for establishing safety protocols for permitting visitors and spectators to attend sporting events and in-person extracurricular activities; limits on gatherings for indoor and outdoor sports and in-person extracurricular activities to ensure social distancing; protocols for sports consistent with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Considerations for Youth Sports; and methods of ensuring that social distancing and other safety measures are in place for students, staff and spectators.

The measure passed the House by a bipartisan, veto-proof majority, but a veto override attempt failed in the House this week after several members switched their votes to side with the governor.

In other action, two key bills that I co-sponsored were passed this week and are now headed to the governor’s desk. House Bill 2513 would relax capacity limits for Pennsylvania’s bars and restaurants and eliminate a Wolf rule that requires customers to purchase a meal when ordering alcoholic beverages. It affords those who work in this industry some measure of stability and certainty in what has been a perpetually changing landscape. And the Senate passed House Bill 2487, which would freeze Cost of Living Adjustments for government officials through 2021, including members of the legislative, judicial and executive branches.

Finally, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court stepped way out of bounds recently when it ruled on two cases that have the potential to upend the November General Election. At a minimum, the decisions stand to confuse voters by allowing drop boxes to be used, and ballots postmarked on or before Nov. 3, but received up to three days after the election, to be counted. But the greatest concern, as I see it, is the court’s willingness to step out of line and make rulings that have the effect of law.

It is the responsibility of the General Assembly to make laws and to determine how our elections will be conducted. I am calling on my House colleagues to stand up and call the court’s action what it is – usurping the authority of the General Assembly. Changes to the state Election Code take legislative action and when the state Supreme Court assumed this responsibility, it stepped outside its scope of authority. House leaders, who are appealing the court’s ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, asked for a stay of the new election rules. The request was denied.

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