Mask rule opposition reaches Harrisburg
From suburban school board meetings to the state Capitol, opponents of Gov. Tom Wolf’s student mask mandate are gathering their forces.
When Wolf announced Tuesday that public and private schools will have to enforce mask requirements to stem the spread of coronavirus, there was little doubt that opponents would protest the decision. But in Harrisburg, GOP lawmakers are using the issue to strip state officials of their powers.
“We must be calculated and thoughtful instead of making wide-sweeping decisions,” Sen. Judy Ward, R-Blair, Sen. Pat Stefano, R-Fayette, and Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill, R-York, said in a joint memo on Wednesday. The trio said they intend to propose a constitutional amendment that would limit the Department of Health’s ability to issue statewide orders.
Parental choice and local decision-making have become slogans for activists and politicians – most of them on the right – who oppose further restrictions amid the spread of the highly contagious delta variant. Videos of angry exchanges at school board meetings have become commonplace.
Initially, when student masking was left to school districts, the fights generally remained local. One district, North Allegheny outside Pittsburgh, drew headlines after board members decided against a mask mandate and a judge ordered them to reverse the decision.
With Wolf’s order, however, GOP officials have taken the issue to Harrisburg. Lawmakers, buoyed after a ballot referendum stripped some of Wolf’s emergency powers, are now frequently considering constitutional amendments to weaken state offices.
“In May, voters sent Gov. Wolf a clear message when they voted to clarify that the Legislature can end or extend emergency declarations,” the senators wrote. “They communicated their opinion that one person should not make unilateral decisions that affect 13 million Pennsylvanians in no uncertain terms.”
There’s little state or local polling on mask mandates, but national polls show broad support for public health mandates. A USA Today-Ipsos poll of over 1,000 Americans last month found two-thirds support state and local mask mandates, with similar shares backing other restrictions like vaccine requirements for public events.
Despite those figures, a growing number of Republican political hopefuls are targeting mask rules as the 2022 primary season gets underway. A review this week by the Philadelphia Inquirer found many GOP candidates publicly opposing state and federal health mandates.
Lou Barletta, a former congressman who is now seeking the GOP gubernatorial nod, struck at Wolf days before he imposed the school mask rule.
“Parents should decide what is best for their children – not power-hungry politicians like (Wolf),” he said on Twitter. “It is unfair to force children to wear masks in school.”
Lawmaker calls for paid sick leave
A proposal in Harrisburg would establish paid sick leave for workers statewide, expanding on efforts made in Pennsylvania’s two largest cities.
Last week, state Rep. Jen O’Mara, D-Delaware, said she would propose a “Healthy Family Healthy Workplaces Act” that would require employers to provide paid sick leave for certain purposes. While the bill hasn’t been formally proposed and O’Mara didn’t provide many details, bills by the same name have already circulated in other states.
“No one should have to choose between our health, our family’s health and our job. Unfortunately, many of our families, friends and neighbors without access to paid sick leave face that impossible decision every day,” O’Mara wrote, noting that most Pennsylvanians either aren’t eligible for paid leave or can’t afford the unpaid leave provided under federal law.
A bill providing such a sweeping right could face strong opposition in the General Assembly, where GOP leaders have pushed back against workplace reforms including minimum wage hikes.
Similar efforts are cropping up at the local level, however. Pittsburgh established a paid sick leave rule for many workers, and Allegheny County officials are discussing a similar rule that would allow a week’s paid leave per year for full-time workers.
Philadelphia, too, passed a paid leave policy, expanding on a temporary rule passed early in the pandemic.
Pa. representative could face record search
At least one member of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation faces a potential investigation by colleagues looking into the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol breach.
As CNN and others reported last week, congressional investigators asked dozens of telecommunications companies to preserve the records of 11 representatives allied to former president Donald Trump. Among the 11 is Rep. Scott Perry, R-10th District.
Republican leaders in Congress angrily protested the move this week. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., threatened retaliation against any company that complies with the request.
Companies that hold the records are “subject to losing their ability to operate in the United States,” he said.
Ryan Brown covers statewide politics for Ogden Newspapers. He can be reached at rbrown@altoonamirror.com.