3 Ballot Initiatives In PA: Governor's Powers And Racial Justice

PENNSYLVANIA — It may feel like the historically consequential and drawn-out 2020 election season just ended yesterday in Pennsylvania. But the 2021 election season is just around the corner.

The primary election in Pennsylvania will be held on May 18. There are a wide variety of local, county, and judicial seats up for grabs, in addition to a few special elections.

However, there are also three ballot measures that voters will see when they go the polls or vote by mail this spring. The state certified these measures to appear and to be determined by the public. Here's an overview.

Governor's powers

A point of contention between Republicans and Democrats throughout the pandemic has the degree of control which Gov. Wolf has exercised through the use of emergency powers.

From the beginning of the pandemic, leaders in the Republican state legislature have lobbied to have these powers curtailed. There were efforts to have some of Wolf's shutdown measures ruled unconstitutional; these efforts were even briefly successful in September before being overuled by a higher court.

In September, Judge William Stickman IV of the U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh ruled against Wolf and state Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine in a lawsuit filed by multiple parties that included hair salons, drive-ins and several Republican elected officials.

The ruling came two weeks after a federal judge in Philadelphia threw out a similar challenge to the business closure order. The judge said no business owner's constitutional rights were violated, because the imposed restrictions were temporary.

“Our Founding Fathers designed a republic with three co-equal branches of government, all designed to provide checks and balances on one another," GOP State Sen. Kim Ward wrote last summer, when she introduced a bill to similar effect in the state house. "The need for this legislation has been born out of Governor Wolf’s refusal to work with the General Assembly during the COVID-19 public health emergency,” said Ward.

Wolf and some Democrats have defended these powers as vital during the pandemic, when they argued that life-saving decisions needed to be made swiftly and apolitically.

There are two ballot measures addressing this issue.

The first is titled the "Emergency Declarations Amendment," and would require that any emergency declaration require approval from the state legislature if it extends beyond 21 days.

The second, the "Legislative Resolution to Extend or Terminate Emergency Declaration Amendment," puts more power in the hands of the state legislature. It empowers the house to extend or terminate an emergency declaration from the governor's office by passing a resolution.

Equal rights

The "Equal Rights Regardless of Race or Ethnicity Amendment" would amend Pennsylvania's constitution to include explicit wording regarding equity in Article 1.

Specifically, it would create a prohibition against denying an individual's rights because of race or ethnicity.

The Pennsylvania Department of State says that the amendment protects residents of the state in case of changes in law at the federal level.

"This equal right to be free from racial or ethnic discrimination will exist independent from any such rights under the United States Constitution or corresponding federal law," a statement from the Office of the Attorney General states. "If the current federal protections proscribing racial or ethnic discrimination are abolished, the prohibition against such discrimination will remain in the Pennsylvania Constitution."

Further measures which may be considered

Four other measures have been proposed, but have not yet been approved to appear on the ballot.

• An amendment that would require gubernatorial candidates to pick their lieutenant governor candidate to appear with them on the ballot
• An amendment that would get rid of the requirement for absentee voters to have an excuse (similar to, but separate from, the Act 77 legislation which gave mail-in voters the same rights in fall 2019)
• A reorganization of judicial courts from the present state supreme, superior, and commonwealth system, to districts based on legislative representation
• A measure that would eliminate the requirement for judicial retention elections (elections to keep a judge in office) to appear on separate ballots, or in a separate column on voting machines

If you have not yet registered to vote in Pennsylvania, you can do so online.