Blair County: Second Amendment Referendum Slowly Moving Forward

On Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022, the Board of Commissioners had their first opportunity to discuss the required intergovernmental agreement Blair County must enter with all of the municipalities in the county as a result of the referendum approved at the November general election.

At the November general election, the voters in each of the 24 municipalities and the County approved a referendum requiring all 25 municipalities to enter into an intergovernmental cooperation agreement declaring a Second Amendment Sanctuary and prohibiting the use of public funds in violation of the Second Amendment.

The solicitors for all the municipalities have collaboratively developed a draft agreement so each municipality can discuss the draft with the public in accordance with the Sunshine Act. Having a common starting point will help to prevent having 25 different versions of the agreement under consideration. It is necessary that every municipality agree to a single document that encompasses the extent of the cooperation.

While this draft agreement addresses the question approved by the voters and legally complies with the laws related to intergovernmental cooperation agreements, this draft agreement only serves as a means of creating a common starting point for which public input can be obtained under the Sunshine Act. Having gotten to this stage in the process, the solicitors’ roles will be limited to advising the boards of their municipalities on the legalities of any proposed changes made by a council or board and ultimately assisting their municipalities with the process to approve the final agreement by resolution. This stage could not have occurred until all municipalities had their reorganization meetings on Jan. 3. It is anticipated that the city, boroughs and townships will have this draft agreement on their agendas in February.

Each of the councils or boards will be individually responsible for handling how they gather input from the public, how long they allow for input, what input they wish to implement, and what matters they want their solicitor to research. The ultimate goal is to reach a final, single agreement. In light of the fact that 25 municipalities have to approve the agreement, it is unknown at this time when the municipalities will be in a position to proceed to adoption of a final agreement.