Lawmakers keep COVID-19 regulatory waivers for 6 more months
By MARC LEVY Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled Legislature is again extending hundreds of regulatory waivers that Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration had approved under its pandemic-related disaster emergency authority. Lawmakers voted unanimously Wednesday to add another six months to a prior extension they granted, as the delta variant of the coronavirus is causing a statewide surge in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths. Lawmakers in June voted to end Wolf’s pandemic-related disaster emergency declaration, under new authority handed to them by voters. At the same time, lawmakers extended the hundreds of regulatory waivers through September. The power to suspend regulations are the key component of a governor’s authority under a disaster declaration.