By Sen. Doug Mastriano
On Sept. 25, the state Department of Health withdrew its rewrite of the commonwealth’s disease-control regulations after receiving more than 10,000 public comments opposing the changes. That is an extraordinary response, and a victory for the people of Pennsylvania. The citizens read what the government was proposing, remembered what happened during COVID-19 and spoke out, because we already fought this battle. During COVID-19, emergency powers reached deeply into our businesses, schools, churches and family lives.
In 2021, voters amended our state constitution to limit a governor’s disaster emergency declaration to 21 days unless the General Assembly extends it. Shortly thereafter, the legislature terminated the COVID-19 disaster declaration. The message from the people was clear: Emergency government must have limits, and the people’s elected representatives must have a voice.
That is why this proposal raised such serious concerns. The Department of Health sought broad changes to Pennsylvania’s disease-control regulations, including expanding language governing the commonwealth’s response to disease outbreaks. The department itself discussed the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision finding that its existing regulation did not authorize a statewide school mask mandate and proposed adding authority for disease “prevention, containment or mitigation.”
That raised a fundamental question: Can an agency use regulation to reclaim broad authority after Pennsylvanians imposed constitutional limits on emergency power? The answer is no. Public health is an important responsibility, but so are constitutional government, individual liberty, parental rights and legislative oversight. Those protections matter most when government believes extraordinary action is necessary.
More than 10,000 Pennsylvanians made their concerns known, and the Department of Health withdrew the proposal. That is representative government at work. Citizens paid attention, asked questions and refused to be ignored. Their voices mattered. But we must remain vigilant. The department has indicated that it intends to revise the proposal and submit another version. When it does, we will read it carefully and judge it by the same standard: Does it respect the state constitution, the authority of the legislature and the rights of the people?
My message to the Shapiro administration is straightforward: Listen to the more than 10,000 Pennsylvanians who spoke out. If additional public-health authority is necessary, make the case openly to the General Assembly and the public. Do not attempt to restore powers that Pennsylvanians voted to restrain through administrative regulation.
For now, this is a victory worth recognizing. More than 10,000 Pennsylvanians stood up, their government heard them and the proposal was withdrawn. That is exactly how representative government is supposed to work.