Pa. lawmakers extend emergency declaration in response to damage from Hurricane Ida

Patriot-News - 9/21/2021

The Pennsylvania General Assembly exercised its new muscle on Tuesday by approving a resolution extending Gov. Tom Wolf’s Aug. 31 emergency disaster declaration in response to the after-effects of the remnants of Hurricane Ida.

The disaster declaration will continue through Oct. 27.

On the final day before the governor’s declaration expired, the House of Representatives voted 201-0 to approve the extension. That was followed later in the afternoon by the Senate, which voted 49-0 to support the extension, despite a failed attempt by Democratic senators to extend the emergency disaster to Nov. 29.

This is the first time lawmakers used this authority to extend a disaster declaration since being granted that power by voters in May through the approval of a state constitutional amendment.

In August, the Legislature chose to allow Wolf’s opioid emergency declaration first issued in January 2018 to expire despite his request to extend it to help stem the commonwealth’s opioid addiction crisis. Lawmakers declined, saying they would continue their efforts to combat the epidemic legislatively outside of a disaster declaration.

In May, voters approved a constitutional change that limit a governor’s disaster declaration to 21 days and grants lawmakers the sole authority to extend or end it with a simple majority vote. Previously, the governor could issue a 90-day emergency declaration and unilaterally could renew them indefinitely in 90-day increments.

Earlier this month, Wolf declared the hurricane-related emergency disaster to aid in the response in anticipation of significant rainfall and widespread flooding expected from the remnants of that storm that had devastating impact across southern states before sweeping to the Northeast.

The remnants of Ida produced heavy rainfall, severe flooding and tornadoes throughout Pennsylvania, particularly in the southeast and in York County, which have been approved for federal disaster assistance. The extension will allow time for those affected to assess and apply for the federal financial assistance and programs.

“Recovery efforts in response to the damage caused by Hurricane Ida remain ongoing and will continue for the foreseeable future,” states the resolution in justifying the need for the extension.

Sen. Katie Muth, D-Montgomery County, proposed the amendment to extend the emergency’s expiration date to the end of November, which failed by a 21-28 vote.

She said Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and governor’s office requested the November date. She said PEMA indicated that would allow the same amount of time that was needed to respond to the last disaster of similar magnitude to assess and assist the needs and damage of people impacted by the storm.

Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland County, said the Wolf Administration recently told the caucus leaders that Oct. 27 would allow sufficient response time. She said the House and Senate are scheduled to be in session that week, so if more time is needed, the chambers could consider extending the disaster declaration’s expiration again.

House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre County, said in a statement, “When Pennsylvania voters approved two constitutional amendments in May giving the Legislature a greater say in the management of disaster emergency situations, this is the exact type of cooperative management they expected.

“Tropical Storm Ida had a serious impact on many communities across Pennsylvania. As that extensive recovery effort continues, renewing the disaster declaration is clearly necessary.”

Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy.