emergency-declaration

Pa. General Assembly votes to terminate Wolf’s COVID-19 emergency declaration

BY: - June 10, 2021

(*This story was updated at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, 6/10/21, to include comment from Rep. Kevin Boyle, D-Philadelphia.) For the first time in 15 months, Pennsylvania is no longer operating under a COVID-19 emergency declaration. Using its newly expanded emergency powers, the GOP-controlled Legislature voted to end Gov. Tom Wolf’s pandemic disaster declaration this week. […]

COMMENTARY

Pa. voters limited Wolf’s emergency powers. No good deed goes unpunished | Fletcher McClellan

BY: - May 23, 2021

Republicans will waste no time attempting to close the door on Wolf’s current authority, but what if another pandemic, linked either to a coronavirus variant or a new disease, should arise?

Pa. lawmakers have been promoting May 18 ballot questions. One method is raising eyebrows

BY: - May 14, 2021

For weeks, Republican lawmakers in the General Assembly have been spreading the word about two proposed constitutional amendments that would change how Pennsylvania responds to emergencies.  But recent methods have raised ethical questions. In a recent mailer to constituents, Sen. Mike Regan, R-York, argued that voters in his suburban Harrisburg district would have a “stronger […]

Pandemic strains emergency responders with more disasters on horizon | Analysis

BY: - June 1, 2020

By Jacob Fischler Federal officials have more money than ever to respond to disasters, but some worry their focus on the pandemic could hamstring efforts to recover from other catastrophes in Iowa. Congressional Democrats, health experts and Iowa’s emergency management director have warned in recent weeks that the Federal Emergency Management Administration’s pandemic response could […]

In break with Trump, Pa. U.S. Sen Pat Toomey will vote to disapprove White House’s border wall grab

BY: - March 14, 2019

The Pennsylvania Republican had previously expressed concern about the declaration, but had stopped short of outright opposition.

Casey, Pa. Dems want to know if Trump’s border wall declaration will hurt state military projects

BY: - February 28, 2019

Pennsylvania’s senior U.S. senator wants the Pentagon to come clean on how President Donald Trump’s emergency declaration on the border wall could potentially affect roughly $200 million worth of military construction projects in the Keystone State. Casey, joined by every Democratic member of the state’s U.S. House delegation, sent a letter to acting Defense Secretary […]

‘This is about the Constitution’: Pa’s Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick votes with Dems to nullify Trump’s emergency declaration

BY: - February 26, 2019

The bill now goes to the U.S. Senate, where it's on Republicans to decide whether to rebuke the White House.

Here’s what Pa’s Congressional delegation has to say about the vote to nullify Trump’s emergency declaration

BY: - February 26, 2019

(*This piece has been updated to correctly identify the districts for U.S. Reps. Dwight Evans and Brendan Boyle) Surprising no one, the U.S. House voted  245-182 on partisan lines Tuesday to approve a resolution nullifying President Donald Trump’s emergency declaration to build a wall at the United States’ southern border with Mexico. The Washington Post […]

Former Republican Pa. congressman urges GOP to vote against Trump’s emergency declaration

BY: - February 25, 2019

Ex-Congressman William Clinger, who was chairman of the House Oversight Committee in the 1990s, has been critical of Trump in the past.