Republican leaders deny call to reconvene

Wolf asked them for school mask mandate

Republican leaders in Harrisburg will not reconvene the state Legislature to pass a mask mandate for K-12 schools and child care centers, denying a request by

Gov. Tom

Wolf, they announced

Thursday.

In a letter to

Mr. Wolf,

House

Speaker

Bryan Cutler and Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman said local school

district officials should continue to be permitted to make their own decisions regarding their communities, and that the way to mitigate COVID-19 is by urging vaccinations.

“We believe that the current approach — allowing local officials to manage and respond as needed — makes the most sense and should be continued,” they wrote.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Wolf told The Associated Press on Thursday that the governor is “disappointed” that the GOP leadership doesn’t want to return to session, adding that “quick action is often what is needed during times of emergency when conditions change.” The outlet reported the governor did not signal an intention to mandate masks on his own.

Mr. Wolf had asked the leaders to return to session to pass a mandate, insisting his administration has received an “outpouring” of calls from parents and teachers about the need for a mask mandate, given that children under age 12 are not yet eligible to be vaccinated.

“For most of the past 18 months, the legislature has asked for my administration to defer to local governments and local organizations when making mitigation decisions. We have done that to the extent possible while still providing broad public health guidance,” Mr. Wolf’s letter read. “Now instead of letting school districts, universities, and other organizations make these decisions free of duress, some in the legislature appear to be pressuring these organizations to make specific decisions.”

The GOP leaders said in their response that for much of the summer, Mr. Wolf and his administration have “made it publicly known that you would not impose any additional statewide mandates and instead allow mitigation decisions to be made at a local level.”

They called his request a “stark departure” from that position, although the governor’s allies say he was simply doing what the people of Pennsylvania asked for: giving the Legislature more say Home in the emergency response.

For now, masks are not part mandated in Pennsylvania’s visiting schools. The Wolf administration says only 59 of the nearly 500 school districts across the state that submitted health and safety plans had implemented mandatory masking policies.