Why Wolf may have to shelve ‘grandiose visions’
Gov. Tom Wolf was hoping for the best of times as he finished out his final two years in office.
Instead he has to settle for what he hopes won’t continue to be the worst of times in having to deal with a GOP-controlled Legislature that has hampered his ability to achieve many of his priorities since he took office in 2015.
The Democratic governor invested heavily in legislative races hoping to flip control of at least one, if not both, legislative chambers to his party. Instead, the Nov. 3 election saw Republicans retain control of both the House and Senate. The GOP expanded its majority in the House and possibly in the Senate as well.
In addition, Wolf also faces the coronavirus pandemic and the fiscal limitations that it has exacerbated for the state.
As Muhlenberg College political science professor Chris Borick puts it, “It’s not necessarily an opportunity for grandiose visions.”
There’s no doubt Wolf will still be able to have an impact in various ways.
He will play a critical role for Democrats when it comes to congressional and legislative redistricting. It will be up to him to try to ensure the final outcome is more balanced than what that exercise produced 10 years ago, when a GOP-controlled Legislature and Republican Gov. Tom Corbett were in control.
With President-elect Joe Biden, Wolf also will have an ally in the White House. A former Wolf administration official said Biden shares his priorities in providing more people with access to Medicaid and other
social services and is supportive of public education.
“That is going to make a significant difference versus the last four years,” said J.J. Abbott, Wolf’s former press secretary who now serves as executive director of Commonwealth Communications, a progressive advocacy group based in Harrisburg.
“I can’t understate how the Trump Administration hampered the ability of the state government in Pennsylvania to be able to operate the way that Gov. Wolf would have wanted to be able to,” he said.
Wolf also will remain the person in charge of deciding where the state’s economic development grant dollars are spent.
As the former chief of staff to Gov. Ed Rendell, Steve Crawford, said the Legislature can offer counsel on where they’d like to see that money spent. But Crawford added, “The governor doesn’t have to listen to them.
So that’s an example where the governor can say it’s time for my priorities.”
Crawford recalled that he advised Rendell whenhe entered the lame-duck stage of his administration that “there were many things he could accomplish that did not require legislation or the Legislature and we should concentrate on some of those. You may see Gov. Wolf do some of those things.”
Executive powers
The governor does hold powers he can exercise through executive orders. He fused them on the very day he was inaugurated when he signed an executive order imposing a gift ban on executive branch employees.
Borick foresees the governor exploring areas where he can push the envelope with that authority. For example, the governor has failed to get the Legislature to raise the state’s minimum wage but he did raise it for all commonwealth employees and contractors through executive order.
What’s more, Wolf’s declaration of the COVID-19 emergency expanded those executive powers much to Republicans’ dismay. Republican lawmakers, along with at least a few Democrats, have made repeated unsuccessful attempts to limit, if not put an end to, the governor’s use of that additional authority. Wolf used those powers to order a shutdown in the spring of nonessential businesses and continue to impose restrictions on restaurants and bars and the size of social gatherings.
In fact, that has been the primary way he has gotten anything done for most of 2020, said Matt Brouillette, president of the conservative Commonwealth Partners Chamber of Entrepreneurs in Harrisburg.
“If he has to go back to regular governing, he’s probably not going to like it,” Brouillette said.
Several Republican interviewed for this story said voters showed their frustration with Wolf’s use of those COVID-19related executive powers in this month’s election. In addition to keeping control of the General Assembly, Republicans won two of three statewide row offices.
“I think it was an overwhelming rebuke of the governor’s handling of coronavirus,” said Rep. Seth Grove, R-York County.
Legislative challenges
There has been plenty of friction between Wolf and Republicans surrounding the governor’s handling of the pandemic response and more recently, the conduct of the election that has spurred both chambers to launch a review of its integrity.
Nonetheless, House and Senate GOP leaders struck a conciliatory tone when asked about their ability to work with Wolf.
“ComeJanuary, it’s time to put the election behind us and work for the people of Pennsylvania,” said interim Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R-Centre County. “That’s our pledge here today and we’ll work with anyone else who wants to come and put the people of Pennsylvania first.”
Still, in dealing with a Legislature with fewer moderating influences within the GOP ranks, Wolf is likely in for a challenge in finding that common ground with more conservative Republicans. He’ll likely have to be even more willing to further compromise on his priorities if he wants to achieve a semblance of them.
“Hope he’s not planning some legacy types of things,” said Borick. “That’s hard to do in the best of times. It seems this is much more of a period where I think you try to make incremental movement on things that you can control.”
Crawford said, “Perhaps he’s going to have to come to the realization the final two years in some respect represent the ramp down of his administration and the ramp up to the governor’s race in 2022. Those realities do collide.”
Borick agrees that will be a consideration. He doesn’t see Wolf as the type of person that would put his own self-interest above his loyalty to the party by doing anything that makes the path harder for another Democrat to succeed him.
At the same time, many anticipate there will be several Republican lawmakers who have their sights set on the governor’s office in 2022.
Former Lt. Gov. Mark Singel, a former state senator, said lawmakers will have to consider over Wolf’s last two years whether they are better off presenting themselves as an obstructionist or someone who can reach across the political aisle to get things done.
“That’s going to be a consideration,” Singel said. “I think people are really hungry to hear that our legislators are laying down the assault weapons and shaking hands on good policy.”
Don’t forget the veto
But if political bickering persists, there’s always the gubernatorial veto.
While the Republicans may hold the majority in both chambers, the number of seats they control do not add up to the two-thirds majority needed in each chamber to override a gubernatorial veto.
Wolf has shown he’s not afraid to use that authority. He has vetoed 14 bills so far this year mostly to reject the Legislature’s efforts to undermine his COVID-19 response. Since taking office, Wolf has vetoed 44 bills.
Twice in recent months, lawmakers tried to override Wolf’s vetoes of bills related to coronavirus restrictions. Both efforts failed. And the General Assembly hasn’t overcome a veto by a Pennsylvania governor in a decade.
Abbott, Wolf’s former press secretary, expects that veto power will come in handy as he is not expecting to see much change in the strained relationship between the governor and GOP-controlled Legislature as the administration winds to a close.