PAULA REED WARD | Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021 6:10 p.m.
Pennsylvania mandates masks in K-12 schools, day cares
Republican leaders in Pennsylvania said Tuesday that in issuing a school mask mandate, Gov. Tom Wolf and his administration are trying to circumvent the will of the people expressed through the passage in May of a constitutional amendment.
Legal experts said that the emergency powers amendment approved by voters in the 2021 primary election does not apply to the order issued Tuesday.
“If you don’t declare an emergency, you aren’t using the governor’s emergency powers,” said Duquesne University law professor Bruce Ledewitz. “You’re not getting around the constitutional amendment. The amendment is irrelevant.”
On Tuesday, Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam announced that, beginning on Sept. 7, all students in public and private schools, K-12, and preschool, will be required to wear face masks inside. The measure is to prevent the spread of covid-19, which has been surging in recent weeks because of the delta variant.
The announcement was followed immediately by Republican legislators condemning the move.
Read more at https://triblive.com/local/regional/legal-experts-say-wolf-administration-has-authority-to-issue-mask-mandate/.
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