(AP) Nearly three weeks after Gov. Tom Wolf suspended state executions, House Republicans, including a representative from Delaware County, are seeking to reverse the death penalty moratorium.

House Resolution 143, sponsored by Rep. Mike Vereb, R-150, of Montgomery County, is being passed around the House for support. Several Republicans already are pushing for the resolution to be passed by the House Judiciary Committee, including state Rep. Joe Hackett, R-161, of Ridley Township."Instead of working with the Legislature to address his concerns with capital punishment in Pennsylvania, the governor acted rashly and ignored all constitutional provisions regarding separation of powers," Hackett said in a prepared statement.Wolf, a Democrat, placed a temporary halt on the state's death penalty on Feb. 13.He also granted temporary reprieve to Pennsylvania inmate Terrance Williams, who was convicted of murder 30 years ago. Williams was on death row for fatally beating a man with a tire iron in Philadelphia in 1984. He had been scheduled for execution Wednesday.In light of Wolf's decision to reprieve Williams, the Supreme Court granted a request made by Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams to challenge the governor's authorization. The outcome of the lawsuit is pending.Vereb's memo highlights others charged with murder that could be reprieved from execution, including Eric Frein, 31, suspected of fatally shooting Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. Bryon Dickson; and Gary Fellenbaum, 23, and Jillian Tait, 31, who are charged with beating Tait's 3-year-old son to death in their Chester County trailer home. Prosecutors in these cases are seeking the death penalty.The governor now is awaiting a report conducted by the Pennsylvania Task Force and Advisory Commission on Capital Punishment. The moratorium will remain in effect until the report and its recommendations are evaluated.Lawmakers supportive of Wolf's decision, including state Sen. Daylin Leach, D-17, of Upper Merion, are using the state's low execution count in the past 40 years, and its high cost compared to a non-capital murder case, as reasons to eliminate the practice.Leach introduced legislation that would abolish the death penalty. It was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee and is pending a review.According to the Death Penalty Information Center a nonprofit organization that provides the public with information connected to capital punishment 188 death row inmates were sitting in Pennsylvania's prisons as of October 2014. Information about Pennsylvania's death penalty system also shows three executions occurred since 1976, with the first occurring in 1995. Prior to the death penalty's reinstatement, 1,040 people were executed statewide.Supporters of Vereb's resolution say Wolf ignored the justice system by failing to approach the Legislature to get a bill through both chambers before enacting a law. Vereb also mentioned in his memo another option Wolf could have taken was filing a lawsuit in the courts for an injunction in death penalty cases."The victims of these crimes deserve justice. What they are receiving is politics," Vereb wrote in his memo.Hackett said friends and families of the victims were not taken into consideration when the move was made to stall the death penalty. He said those closely connected to murdered victims are being tormented."These individuals have already been to hell and back after losing a loved one and enduring the subsequent trial. Now, the governor is going to deny them justice by granting these heinous criminals a reprieve," he said.Hackett, a former Ridley Township police officer and detective with the district attorney's office's Criminal Investigation Division, is a proponent of crime victims' rights. He recently sponsored legislation (HB 186), which passed in the House, to increase the rights of victims' appearances in courtroom proceedings. He also sponsored a bill that would allow courts to terminate parental rights of convicted rapists and mandate the offender pay child support even when those parental rights are terminated."I'm not sure exactly who in the administration is misguiding the governor on these decisions, but if this is the kind of 'fresh start' he has in mind, then I anxiously await a speedy conclusion," Hackett said.