Lawmakers now hold fate of regulations waived amid pandemic

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — With voters shifting major new responsibilities to them, Pennsylvania’s state lawmakers are now tasked with deciding whether hundreds of state government regulations waived during the COVID-19 pandemic should be reinstated. This massive review is fueled by Tuesday’s referendum in which voters curbed the governor’s emergency powers by approving constitutional amendments that give lawmakers much more power over disaster declarations. A key component of a disaster declaration is a governor’s authority to waive a regulation. On Thursday, Gov. Tom Wolf renewed the disaster declaration, his fifth straight in response to the coronavirus. Under the provisions of the constitutional amendments approved Tuesday, it will expire in three weeks.