The Reading Eagle reported Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf vetoed a bill that would have explicitly allowed school districts to determine how many spectators to allow into stadiums and gyms for interscholastic sports events. The bill returns to the House and Senate who may vote to override the veto. The bill originally passed with more than 2/3 support in each house.
According to the article, “Wolf ordered earlier this summer that outdoor gatherings be limited to 250 and indoor gatherings be limited to 25, but that figure has often been passed by car shows, AAU basketball games and more recently high school football games.”
The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA), which is the organizing body for high school varsity sports but does not sanction the sport of ice hockey, “proceeded with its plan to play fall sports because it believed in the health and safety plans devised by each school district, and because of a recommendation by its Sports Medicine Advisory Committee that a return to the field could be done safely.”
The continuing battle between the Democratic Governor Wolf and the Republican-majority House and Senate could be chalked up to partisan politics, except that this vetoed bill passed originally by 39-11 in the Senate and 155-47 in the House, which meant that it had broad, bi-partisan support.
Amateur hockey in Pennsylvania, while not officially sanctioned by the PIAA, follows Pennsylvania laws and executive orders, and tries to implement as many PIAA guidelines at the middle school and high school levels of play as are practical under USA Hockey rules and regulations.
Previously, the USA Hockey districts governing Pennsylvania said they believe that amateur hockey can play without restriction. This was in reaction to U.S. District Judge Stickman’s ruling that several of Governor Wolf’s executive orders are unconstitutional.