Attempt to Override Governor’s Veto of School Sports Spectator Bill Fails
A vote to override Governor Tom Wolf’s veto of House Bill 2787 has failed in the Pennsylvania House.
House Bill 2787 would have allowed local school districts to make their own decisions about how many spectators could attend high school sports games.
Governor Wolf vetoed the bill on Monday, saying it would allow people to congregate, which could potentially further spread COVID-19. Wednesday afternoon, House lawmakers attempted to override that veto. They needed a two-thirds vote to do so, and the magic number was 135. But only 130 ended up voting in favor of the veto.
House Bill 2787 passed the House earlier this month by a vote of 155 to 47. 46 of those votes came from Democrats. But some of those same lawmakers supported the Governor and voted against overriding his veto. Just 21 Democratic lawmakers voted to override the veto.
One of those 21 Democratic lawmakers that voted in favor of the veto override was Erie Representative Ryan Bizzarro, who also voted in favor of the bill.
“It’s really important that legislators across the Commonwealth take what they’re hearing back from their specific districts. I am hearing nothing but pleas from families across Erie County, particularly in my legislative district, that they want to be able to watch their children play sports,” says Rep. Bizzarro.
Other Erie Democratic Representatives Pat Harkins and Bob Merski did vote in favor of the bill when it first passed, but they were among the Democrats that voted against the veto override.
Governor Wolf has yet to have any of his vetoes successfully overridden.