Pa. court panel voids Wolf admin's school mask order; Wolf admin will appeal to state Supreme Court

The court’s order has been stayed with the appeal to state Supreme Court, the administration said


A Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court panel has voided the Wolf administration’s mask order for K-12 public schools, ruling that acting state Health Secretary Alison Beam overstepped her authority by not going through the usual regulatory channels, and declared it “unenforceable.”

Writing for the court’s majority in a 31-page ruling, Judge Christine Fizzano Cannon said that if the order were allowed to remain in place, it would “be tantamount to giving [Beam] unbridled authority to issue orders with the effect of regulations,” in contravention of existing state law and the absence of a gubernatorial emergency declaration.

The appellate court heard oral arguments earlier this month in a pair of challenges to the order, which Beam said she was allowed to impose based on the 1929 law establishing the state Health Department, and a 1955 infectious disease law.

Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R-Centre, state Rep. Jesse Topper, R-Bedford, and a group of parents filed one of the lawsuits, arguing that no regulations related to masking have passed. In their suit, they also accused Gov. Tom Wolf and his administration of trying to do an end-run on the constitutional changes that curtailed the governor of some emergency response power.

Read more: https://www.penncapital-star.com/covid-19/pa-court-judge-voids-wolf-admins-school-mask-order/