General Assembly approves termination of COVID-19 emergency declaration

The Pennsylvania General Assembly voted Thursday to end Gov. Tom Wolf’s COVID-19 emergency declaration while ensuring existing regulatory flexibilities provided for under the order remain in effect through September.

The Senate first approved House Resolution 106, which terminates the pandemic emergency declaration, ending Wolf’s ability to close employers, limit occupancy, suspend state statuses or issue stay-at-home orders due to COVID-19. Later in the day, the House approved the measure, which does not need to go to the governor for enactment.

“The people of Pennsylvania have spoken and our members have turned their vote on May 18th into action by exercising the will of the people to immediately terminate the COVID-19 emergency disaster declaration,” said House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff (R-Centre/Mifflin), prime sponsor of Resolution 106. “With Pennsylvania rapidly returning to normal thanks to a legislative-led vaccine rollout and the need to keep our economy on a track to vigorously reopen, we did not want to wait a minute longer to terminate this emergency disaster declaration that has been responsible for so much economic devastation over the last 16 months.”

The Senate also approved House Bill 854, which ensures all waivers previously effective under the emergency declaration will remain in effect until Sept. 30, 2021, unless otherwise terminated by the authority that initially permitted the waiver. House Bill 854, which was also approved by the House and now heads to the governor for enactment, would protect access to critical federal funding and waivers that benefit health and safety, including emergency authorization of telemedicine, temporary staffing at nursing homes and personal care homes, and other staffing issues in healthcare facilities.

“The people of Pennsylvania gave us a mandate to take a different approach to managing the COVID-19 emergency,” Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman (R-Bellefonte) said. “Ending the disaster declaration while preserving critical waivers for telemedicine, health care staffing and other priorities fulfills the promise we made to Pennsylvanians to protect lives and livelihoods. The actions of the General Assembly will finally allow our Commonwealth to move forward from the pandemic and begin our recovery without the looming threat of new shutdowns or restrictions.”

In May, Pennsylvania voters approved two constitutional amendments that limited the length of disaster declarations and gave the General Assembly, not solely the governor, the power to extend a governor’s initial disaster declaration.

“Despite repeated attempts by the General Assembly to work together for better outcomes and increased transparency, lawmakers were not given a seat at the table [over the past year],” state Sen. Camera Bartolotta (R-46) said. “However, the voters spoke loud and clear in May, and I am proud to have voted today in accordance with their wishes. Our action reflects the will of the people and is a necessary step to help the Commonwealth transition out of crisis.”