Voters approve two PA ballot initiatives limiting governor’s power in disaster declarations

Two initiatives on yesterday’s statewide primary ballot designed to move emergency decisions from the governor’s office to the state assembly have been approved.

Live results of the amendment votes as well as other state races can be viewed here.

Amendment 1 limits the governor’s ability to use emergency disaster declaration orders and Amendment 2 removes the governor’s power to extend orders beyond 21 days and prohibits the governor from declaring a new disaster emergency.

Both amendments followed from the state legislature’s inability to limit or cancel the emergency orders Governor Wolf imposed during the pandemic. Wolf used emergency orders to provide aid to state agencies and to limit activities that might spread the virus.

Both amendments have been endorsed by the Republican caucuses of the General Assembly and were generally opposed by Democrats.

The other two ballot initiatives, designed to provide equal rights on the basis of gender and race and to provide access to state loans to volunteer fire companies, volunteer ambulance services and volunteer rescue squads have also passed by substantial margins.