Gov. Wolf wants the power to declare a public health emergency

Measure creating specific emergency declaration has twice passed Senate

• Ed Mahon
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  Ed Mahon comes to Spotlight PA from PA Post, where he covered state politics and policy, produced radio stories that were broadcast on public media stations throughout the state and on NPR’s national newscasts, and co-wrote a weekday newsletter. Prior to joining PA Post, Ed worked for six years as an investigative and political reporter for the York Daily Record, part of the USA Today Network. His reporting on failures in Pennsylvania’s system for protecting domestic abuse victims was a finalist in the national 2018 Livingston Awards for Young Journalists in the local reporting category. He was also part of a team whose coverage of the criminal justice system, including the aggressive use of civil asset forfeiture by York County prosecutors, received the 2018 G. Richard Dew Award for Journalistic Service from the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association. Before joining the York Daily Record, Ed covered K-12 education at the Centre Daily Times in State College and worked as a stringer for suburban sections of The Philadelphia Inquirer. He grew up in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

 Commonwealth Media Services

Gov. Tom Wolf speaks at a press conference in Harrisburg about the arrival of coronavirus in Pennsylvania on Friday, March 6, 2020. At rear is state Health Secretary Rachel Levine.

As concern over the spread of the coronavirus increases in Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Wolf (D) is urging the legislature to give him the power to declare a public health emergency.

“I’ve been asking for this for some time,” Wolf said during a Friday news conference.

Following the detection of two presumed coronavirus cases in the state, Wolf declared a disaster emergency on Friday, a move that allows the state to override certain regulations, including how it awards contracts. Historically, governors have used it for snowstorms, flooding and other severe weather. In January 2018, Wolf took the unusual move of declaring a disaster emergency in response to opioid deaths.

Wolf, however, wants to separate the sort of emergency declaration used to coordinate responses to bad storms from the emergency powers needed to confront the outbreak of a potentially dangerous virus.

Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa (Allegheny) is also a proponent of a public health emergency declaration. He said it would allow for better coordination when dealing with bioterrorism, the opioid crisis, and range of illnesses and diseases.

“This particular emergency health order gives a more direct and appropriate response to whatever the crisis might be,” Costa said.

The Senate unanimously approved Costa’s legislation in 2018 and again in 2019. But the House didn’t act on it.

Mike Straub, a spokesman for the House Republican Caucus, said lawmakers had concerns about the scope of what the legislation would cover.

But Straub said the House Health Committee plans to take action on the bill soon, possibly when lawmakers return to session during the week of March 16. Lawmakers could choose to amend the bill before passing it out of committee, Straub said.

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