HARRISBURG (AP) - House Republicans lost an override vote Wednesday on Wolf’s veto of a bill that would have given school boards the ability to make decisions on sports and extracurricular activities, including whether to allow spectators, and how many. It had passed the House earlier this month with 150 “yes” votes, but the override tally, 130-71, fell slightly short of the required supermajority.

During floor debate, Minority Leader Frank Dermody warned that it’s “folly” to act like the coronavirus is going away.

“This is about politics,” said Dermody, D-Allegheny. “This is not about the safety of our children. It’s not about the welfare of student-athletes.”

“Twenty-five House Democrats flipped their vote,” Sen. Mario Scavello, R-Monroe/Northampton posted.

“Rather than giving our local school boards the ability to decide, they think only Gov. Wolf should decide.”

Local representatives who voted in favor of the override included Doyle Heffley, R-Carbon; Jack Rader, R-Monroe; Jerry Knowles, R-Berks/Schuylkill/Carbon; Zach Mako, R-Northampton/Lehigh and Rosemary Brown, R-Monroe.

Heffley said, “Some of these folks are paying $5,000, $10,000 or even $15,000 a year in property taxes to support their local school districts. Now they are being told by a governor who does not even know where they live that they cannot watch their son or daughter play. It is totally disgusting.”

Rader said, “Unfortunately, our effort fell short today. But this was not the end, as we intend to bring this up again for another vote.”

The sponsor, Rep. Mike Reese, R-Westmoreland, called the proposal a return to common sense.

Rep. Anita Kulik, D-Allegheny, said a high school athlete in her district suffered a broken arm last week, but the child’s parents were not at the game.

“We hold parents responsible for the well-being of their children,” Kulik said. “I wholeheartedly believe that parents have inherent rights to be where their children are.”

Although Democrats are in the minority in the House and Senate, Wolf has not lost an override vote since he became governor, and he chided Republicans on Wednesday for “wasting time on a veto override attempt on a superfluous bill.”