State House fails to override Gov. Wolf’s veto of high school sports bill
The Republican-controlled state House failed Wednesday to get enough votes to override Gov. Tom Wolf’s veto of a bill that would have allowed school districts to set crowd limits at sporting events.
The House fell short of five votes to reach a super majority to force House Bill 2787 into law, said a spokesman for House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, R-171st District.
“Unfortunately, today more Democrats decided to cave to political pressure by flipping their vote instead of standing up for their constituents,” Benninghoff stated in a news release.
Wolf vetoed the bill Monday at a time when it appeared the House had the votes to override him on the bill that also would have allowed school districts to decide whether or not to have sports during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Wolf administration has ordered the outdoor crowd limit to 250 people. Allegheny County set its outdoor limit at 100 people.
The vote Wednesday was 130-71, Benninghoff’s office said.
State Rep. Pam Snyder, D-Jefferson in Greene, said she voted in support of overriding Wolf’s veto.
“Our school districts know best what works for them and their students regarding sports and other extracurricular activities,” Snyder stated. “They are the experts where it concerns their facilities and their communities, not the governor.”
Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said the crowd limit there remained in effect and that it would be enforced.
“We know from the scientists, not the politicians, what we need to do,” Fitzgerald said during a Wednesday news conference
He said Allegheny residents have done a great job of wearing face masks and practicing social distancing to keep the number of new daily cases of the virus low.
“It’s working well here,” added Allegheny Health Department Director Debra Bogen.
She said it will take another six months for health officials to know if the virus is under control.
The virus has killed 8,062 Pennsylvanians since March after 39 new deaths were announced Wednesday, three of which were reported in Allegheny.
There were no new deaths reported in Washington, Greene and Fayette counties, the state Health Department said.
Washington County added 18 new cases Wednesday to its total of 1,310. Greene County added two new cases to its total that inched to 181. Fayette County’s case count grew by three to 778.