PA House Launching Another Attempt To Limit Governor's Powers

HARRISBURG, PA — An attempt is being launched to again amend the state Constitution to rein in the governor's powers while expanding those of the Legislature.

State House Speaker Bryan Cutler will introduce a bill Friday that would give the Legislature the ability, via a majority, vote to block executive branch regulations or administrative orders.

Under the measure, any order from the governor or an executive department that has the "force of law" could last just 21 days unless extended by lawmakers. The governor also would lose veto power over any formal House and Senate disapproval of certain executive actions.

Cutler contends the moves are necessary to restore the balance of power regarding executive orders and regulations.

"In recent years we have seen an increased willingness by the executive branch to circumvent the people of the commonwealth," the Lancaster County Republican stated in a memo to colleagues. "When dealing with especially contentious issues, the use of executive orders and regulations have been employed to shut down debate and push policy by a governor and their administration, in direct contrast to the intention of our founders."

The Republican-controlled legislature has waged war with Gov. Tom Wolf's administration over the use of executive and administrative orders enacted during the pandemic. Key battles have occurred over orders that closed or restricted businesses and mandated masks to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

The GOP backed successful constitutional amendments that limited the governor's emergency powers. That allowed the Legislature to end portions of Wolf's COVID-19 disaster order but didn't stop acting Alison Beam, the state's acting health secretary, from mandating masking in K-12 public and private schools in September.

The bills will not impact Wolf, who must leave office at the end of 2022 due to term limitations.

The House and Senate need to pass the resolution twice, in concurrent sessions, before voters could decide to implement the change in a referendum. Voters wouldn't see a ballot question on the issue until at least 2023.