Aug. 13, 2020
HARRISBURG – Once again, answering the people’s demands that Gov. Tom Wolf’s tyrannical abuse of emergency powers must be terminated and never imposed again, Rep. Cris Dush (R-Jefferson/Indiana) is circulating a memorandum asking colleagues in the state House to co-sponsor an emergency constitutional amendment requiring legislative approval of any emergency disaster proclamations that extend beyond 30 days.
According to Dush the necessity for this emergency amendment is plainly obvious due to the governor’s actions since the strong bipartisan majority passage of
Senate Bill 1166, on July 14, which would initiate a constitutional amendment process to empower the people to rein in the governor’s unchecked authority.
“Emboldened by the activist Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s latest failure to rule against his unconstitutional shutdown orders, the governor has usurped the authority of the judiciary in finding Lebanon County guilty of violating his dictates and imposing sentence by denying them critical financial assistance provided through the enactment of the federal CARES Act,” said Dush. “He has done the same by imposing further arbitrary and capricious sanctions on restaurants and taverns, finding all of them guilty and imposing sentence through fines and revoked licenses for the non-compliance of a few. Most recently, he put forward additional, heavy-handed edicts impacting whether schools and school athletics would be opened or not (while his administration admits he had no data to justify these extreme measures).”
Dush’s soon-to-be introduced legislation will be a modified version of Senate Bill 1166 with specific language to make this an emergency amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution. After being passed by the General Assembly this session by a two-thirds majority, it would go straight to the voters for approval as a referendum. Also, just like Senate Bill 1166, Dush’s emergency amendment would not be subject to the governor’s approval or veto, would supersede statute and could not be overturned by the courts.
“We have heard loudly and clearly from our constituents,” said Dush. “They want the rule of law immediately restored. If the governor ignores the law and the courts won’t enforce the law, we have come to the point where an emergency amendment is a must. The only course we are left with is to let the people reestablish the rule of law. Let’s get this before the people to decide.”
Representative Cris Dush
66th Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Ty McCauslin
717.772.9979
RepDush.com /
Facebook.com/RepDush