SCRANTON, Pa. — It's a debate that a lot of people have had since the first statewide shutdown last March: How much power should the governor have in an emergency or disaster?
That debate is now on the ballot.
Two proposed amendments would essentially take some of the power out of the hands of the governor and give it to the state legislature.
The governor would still maintain the power to initially issue an emergency declaration, but the first proposal is to allow the legislature to end or extend that emergency declaration without the governor's approval.
The second proposal is to limit any emergency declaration to 21 days unless the legislature votes to extend it.
"Limiting this ability by placing arbitrary time constraints on the length of disaster declarations, and thus limitations on the authorities contained in them, serves no purpose other than to disrupt the response and recovery operations when those most impacted need the assurance that things will get better as fast as possible," said PEMA Director Randy Padfield
"In reality, nothing in either of these amendments would prevent the governor and state agencies from responding to emergency situations. Any governor would declare a state of emergency to respond in days following any sort of catastrophe. However, these amendments would ensure that these powers would be open-ended and the governor is still accountable to the citizens of the Commonwealth," said State Sen. Mario Scavello, (R) 40th District.
Most people we talked to in Scranton hadn't heard about the ballot questions yet. But once they learned about them, it didn't take long to form an opinion.
"I plan to vote on limiting the governor's powers to the 21 days, so you get people back to work, and if it has to go to legislation, then so be it," said Scranton resident Brian Walsh.
"I'd probably vote yes to terminate it," said Scranton resident Michael Diehl. "I usually like less power from the executive of a government and more checks and balances."
"I would have to look further into it, but as of right now, I'd keep it the way it is until I looked into it further," Dawn Rodriguez said.
"I think it should stay the same. Because if he has to go back to the legislature, it might take a while. It sometimes takes months," Nan Gaus of Scranton said.
The questions will be on the back of your ballot on Primary Election Day next Tuesday, May 18.