Bernstine Says House Fails to Override Governor’s Markie’s Law Veto

HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania House of Representatives failed today to override Gov. Tom Wolf’s September veto of House Bill 146, authored by Rep. Aaron Bernstine (R-Beaver/Butler/Lawrence), which focuses on the parole process for violent offenders in the wake of the 2019 murder of a child in Lawrence County.

The measure needed a two-thirds majority (134 votes) to override the veto; 132 “yes” votes were cast. Every Republican House member voted “yes” to override the veto; however, some Democrats who originally voted in the affirmative, flipped their vote to support releasing violent criminals back onto our streets.

Markie’s Law was named after Markie Mason, an 8-year-old boy who was brutally stabbed to death by a man who was paroled at the end of his minimum sentence for homicide, even after being convicted of committing two separate violent assaults of other inmates while in prison.

The tragic murder of Markie Mason occurred in Rep. Chris Sainato’s (D-Lawrence) district and he failed to aggressively advocate for this legislation, only securing 20 “yes” votes from his party after more than a quarter century of “experience and relationships” in Harrisburg.

“Rather than keeping criminals behind bars, Gov. Wolf and House Democrat leadership, who Sainato voted for, continue to promote their woke agenda of letting criminals out of jail,” said Bernstine.

PA State Representative Aaron Berstine

The bill would have postponed consideration of a violent inmate’s parole an additional 24 months following the inmate’s minimum release date for each conviction of a violent offense while incarcerated. In addition, it would have suspended consideration of an inmate’s parole an additional 12 months if the inmate attempted to escape, smuggle contraband, or retaliate or intimidate witnesses while incarcerated.

Democrats who previously voted yes, but voted no to the veto override included:

• Rep. Mike Carroll
• Rep. Dan Deasy
• Rep. David Delloso
• Rep. Nancy Guenst
• Rep. Leanne Krueger
• Rep. Mark Longietti
• Rep. Maureen Madden
• Rep. Gerald Mullery
• Rep. Ed Neilson
• Rep. Mark Rozzi
• Rep. Steve Samuelson
• Rep. Melissa Shusterman
• Rep. Pam Snyder
• Rep. Mike Sturla
• Rep. Mike Zabel

“I hope those who voted ‘no’ can’t sleep at night,” said Bernstine. “This bill would have protected and served our Commonwealth’s residents in the future and would have saved Markie’s life. Harrisburg Democrats chose to let violent criminals walk freely among us today.”

Bernstine said he will not give up the fight. “This is commonsense legislation, and we will re-introduce this in the new 2023-24 session. We must hold inmates accountable for their actions while incarcerated.”