Gov. Wolf's School Mask Mandate Rejected In PA Court

PENNSYLVANIA — The school mask mandate in Pennsylvania was ruled illegal by the Commonwealth Court on Wednesday, with judges arguing that Gov. Tom Wolf's administration did not have the power to unilaterally issue that order in the absence of a public health emergency.

The decision comes just days after Gov. Wolf said the mandate would be lifted and control over that decision would be returned to local school districts come Jan. 17, 2022.

Sign up for news alerts from Patch

"The law is clear in this case," Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman (R-Bellefonte), who filed the suit with other petitioners, said in a statement. "The Acting Secretary of Health does not have the authority to create new rules and regulations out of thin air. Today’s ruling validates what we have said all along – mask decisions should be made by parents and school boards, NOT unelected bureaucrats."

While the court's decision renders the order void, it will remain in place temporarily as the state files an appeal of the decision.

The decision to make masks mandatory for all students and teachers in K-12 Pennsylvania schools was enormously controversial when it was handed down at the start of the school year. It became the latest tally in the Republican grip over Gov. Wolf's abuse of executive powers, and they used it to fuel their latest legislation to transfer significant authority over from the governor's office to the General Assembly.

Judges voted 4-1 Wednesday that the mandate was illegal. In addition to their being no emergency declaration in place giving Acting Secretary of Health Alison Bream broader powers, Beam did not follow the proper "mandatory rulemaking requirements" as laid out under the Commonwealth Documents Law and the Regulatory Review Act, judges said.

"For this Court to rule otherwise would be tantamount to giving the Acting Secretary unbridled authority to issue orders," they wrote, later adding that this was not about "the science or efficacy of mask-wearing, or the politics underlying the considerable controversy the subject continues to engender."

Further hearings for the state's appeal in this case are forthcoming.