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Pa. court backs Wolf on emergency powers as governor expands mask mandate

Also: Legislature eyes crackdown on fireworks

  • Ed Mahon
Gov. Tom Wolf listens during a news conference on June 29, 2020, at UPMC Pinnacle Community Osteopathic in Dauphin County.

 Ed Mahon / PA Post

Gov. Tom Wolf listens during a news conference on June 29, 2020, at UPMC Pinnacle Community Osteopathic in Dauphin County.

Watch live this morning: I’ll be speaking with two business owners and one of the founders of Erie’s Black Wall Street. The group created a directory of Black-owned businesses in Erie, and its goal is to “create a culture of Black Excellence and Wealth in Erie that serves as an inspiration for generations to come.” You can check out our live video conversation here beginning at 9 a.m. —Ed Mahon, PA Post reporter
Tom Wolf

Ed Mahon / PA Post

Gov. Tom Wolf listens during a news conference on June 29, 2020, at UPMC Pinnacle Community Osteopathic in Dauphin County.

Wednesday was an eventful day for Gov. Tom Wolf and his disaster emergency powers. First, facing signs that coronavirus is beginning to spread again unchecked, the governor used those powers to expand the requirement for people to wear masks. Second, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the General Assembly can’t revoke the governor’s emergency powers unilaterally.

Here’s what you need to know about both issues.

  • The governor’s news release says “masks must be worn whenever anyone leaves home,” but it notes there are exceptions. The order itself says people must wear masks if they are “outdoors and unable to consistently maintain a distance of six feet from individuals who are not members of their household.”

  • The order doesn’t define what counts as “consistently.” And I’m sure people will interpret that differently when they are, say, visiting a park or out for a hike. People also aren’t required to wear masks if a medical condition prevents them from doing so, and the order says people don’t have to show any documentation of a health exception.

  • The new restrictions come as cases have increased in Pennsylvania, including in Dauphin County, as PennLive notes. For an even deeper dive into the numbers, I recommend this very useful interactive map from the Harvard Global Health Institute. Two takeaways: The number of new cases over the past seven days, adjusted for population, is much lower in Pennsylvania than in many other states. Lancaster County leads the state for its new case rate.

  • The Wolf administration already required people to wear masks inside public spaces like stores or offices. But enforcement is a tricky issue. During a news conference earlier this week, a reporter asked Health Secretary Rachel Levine what businesses should do if someone refuses to comply. She said businesses should post that masks are required and, if they are able, offer free masks to people. “But we don’t want physical confrontation,” she said. (Question is asked at about the 40:45 mark in this video.)

  • About an hour after Wolf announced the new mask requirement, the state Supreme Court released a 5-2 decision “bolstering the governor’s authority to manage the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and curtailing the effect of what the Republican-controlled legislature saw as their most promising possible check on executive authority,” PA Post’s Ben Pontz writes. Ben’s story also looks at what options Republicans have. State Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-Franklin) offered two: Gather the votes for a veto override, or file a federal lawsuit presumably looking to override the Pennsylvania court’s ruling on constitutional grounds.

‘…the bombs bursting in air…’

York fireworks sign

Ed Mahon / PA Post

A billboard in York city, seen on July 10, 2019, highlights a change in Pennsylvania that made consumer fireworks legal for Pennsylvania residents.

Last year, after a Fourth of July holiday weekend filled with the sound of fireworks, I looked into efforts to restrict their use in Pennsylvania.

I focused on a proposal from state Rep. Frank Farry, a Republican and volunteer firefighter in Bucks County, who wanted to ban consumer fireworks use between 10 p.m. and 10 a.m. on most days. He also wanted to increase penalties for repeat offenders and give municipalities more power to create tougher rules.

Farry’s bill has received no votes since then. But efforts to curb the use of fireworks have gained traction, PennLive’s Jan Murphy reports.

“The state Senate on Tuesday voted 48-2 on an amendment to a Senate bill that would give officials in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Scranton, Allentown, Erie, Reading, Bethlehem, Lancaster, and Bensalem Township the option of banning the use of consumer fireworks within their borders,” she wrote.

Some lawmakers want all municipalities to have the option to ban fireworks.

I spoke with York Mayor Michael Helfrich about the issue during a phone call Tuesday. York is not on that list of nine municipalities that could ban fireworks if the Senate legislation passes. But Helfrich is skeptical that allowing cities to ban fireworks will make much difference.

The law already says people can’t shoot off fireworks within 150 feet of a home, office or similar buildings — which means they are effectively banned in a densely populated city like York, Helfrich said.

But more importantly: “We do not have the police manpower to enforce regulations on fireworks when they are being sold all around,” Helfrich said. “The state needs to get back to where they were and ban fireworks.”

York stepped up enforcement around fireworks. Helfirch said a firefighter and two police officers, when they’re available, try to catch people using fireworks illegally.

“But nine times out of 10, what they’re finding is a bunch of fireworks trash and nobody around,” Helfrich said. “So it’s a huge, huge waste of time. It’s a waste of resources.”

Allentown would be included under the Senate bill, and one local leader says the city is ready to take action. “Should the measure become state law,” The Morning Call reports, “Allentown City Council President Daryl Hendricks said the displeasure with fireworks is so intense in his city, he could ‘guarantee’ the seven-member council would adopt such a ban, and the vote would be unanimous. Ideally, Hendricks said, the state would repeal the 2017 law.”

For some background: In 2017, state lawmakers made it legal for Pennsylvania residents to buy bottle rockets, Roman candles and other aerial fireworks. Since then, the 12 percent gross consumer fireworks tax brought in  more than $408,000 in the 2017-18 fiscal year, about $7.8 million in 2018-19 revenue and nearly $7.4 million from July 2019 through May of this year.

Some wise words on the topic in this Reading Eagle editorial: “Please, if you’re planning to light fireworks, choose one night to do it and get it over with at a reasonable hour. To do otherwise poses a considerable burden on families with pets, small children and others who are disturbed by loud noise. And some folks just want to be able to go to sleep.”

Related fireworks stories:


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