Wolf vetoes state school sports bill

Legislature could override, giving districts authority on games, crowds.

HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed a bill Monday that gives school districts authority to decide on sports and crowds during the pandemic, even though many fellow Democrats in the House and Senate voted for the bill.

The move sets up likely override votes in the Republican-controlled House and Senate, and it came on a day when 234 more virus cases were reported in the state. The bill passed both chambers with more “yes” votes than the two-thirds majority required for an override to succeed.

“Gov. Wolf stands directly opposed to children and families looking for some semblance of normalcy and to receive the numerous invaluable benefits of fully participating in school sports,” House Majority Leader Rep. Kerry Benninghoff said in a response.

The approval votes were 155-47 in the House and 39-11 in the Senate.

Wolf referred to those 194 lawmakers who voted “yes” in his comments Monday and he did not exclude the 56 Democrats.

“The virus is out to get us,” Wolf said, adding that people seem to hate that fact.

“Apparently the folks who voted for this decided they just wanted to ignore that reality,” Wolf told reporters. “I can’t and I don’t think Pennsylvanians can afford to ignore that reality, so I am going to veto.”

His statements also came after a federal judge last week ruled that Wolf’s size limits on indoor and outdoor crowds during the pandemic are unconstitutional. Those limits are 250 people at outdoor events and 25 at indoor ones.

Soon after that ruling, the office of Attorney General Josh Shapiro asked the judge, an appointee of President Donald Trump, to delay enforcement of the ruling.

The bill, whose prime sponsor is Republican Rep. Mike Reese of Westmoreland County, gives school districts exclusive authority in decisions on school sports during the pandemic, and also on crowd size.

Confusion reached a peak a few weeks ago when the Wolf administration issued guidance that indicated spectators were allowed at fall sporting events, but they — along with athletes, coaches, medical personnel and officials — counted toward the 250-person outdoor and 25-person indoor limits.

Reese said Monday he was astounded by Wolf’s intent to veto.

“It is an absolute statement that he doesn’t trust local officials,” Reese said.

Both Benninghoff and Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman of Centre County said override votes will be held, although the timing is not clear because the House is not scheduled to be in session until next week.

Because of the federal judge’s ruling, Reese said, the current “law of the land” in Pennsylvania on school sports crowds is “no restrictions.”

And, Reese said, if a stay is issued in the federal court case and state lawmakers override Wolf’s veto, new state law would take precedence.

Reese said that in that event, “The question of constitutionality almost doesn’t matter any more.”

Virus update

The Department of Health reported 234 more cases of the coronavirus Monday, as well as 733 new cases Sunday.

There were 400 people hospitalized for the virus statewide around midday Monday, a figure Wolf called “hopeful.”

The figure has trended generally lower for months and was 505 around midday Aug. 31.

The newly reported cases Monday included 10 in Lehigh County and four in Northampton County, bringing the totals to 5,494 and 4,394, respectively.

There were 23 more deaths reported Monday to bring the statewide total to 8,004. That includes 350 deaths in Lehigh County and 305 deaths in Northampton.

Meanwhile, the number of U.S. deaths attributed to the virus was expected to surpass 200,000 Monday, or more than the combined populations of Allentown and Bethlehem. A Johns Hopkins University website listed the death toll as 199,756 in the late afternoon.

Other developments

On Monday, a Wolf order that pushed back the cutoff for alcohol sales in restaurants and bars from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. went into effect. Wolf said he wants to curb the spread of virus in bars and restaurants.

“We got some pushback on that,” Wolf said of the earlier time.

Also Monday, the state allowed restaurants to start self-certifying their use of appropriate virus restrictions to increase indoor dining capacity from 25% to 50%.