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Wolf to veto GOP plan to reopen businesses

Gov. Tom Wolf plans to veto a bill passed by the Republican-led General Assembly Tuesday and Wednesday that would allow many “non-essential” businesses that are now closed because of the coronavirus to reopen.

The bills would set closing criteria based on guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and an advisory list from the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, according to a spokeswoman from his office via email Wednesday evening.

The Republican-led Senate is simply trying to provide “some much needed clarity and common sense” in deciding which businesses can continue, said a statement on the website of State Sen. Judy Ward, R-Blair. It would allow businesses to reopen if they can do so safely, using mitigation strategies, Ward said.

“There is no doubt that this legislation would lead to more Pennsylvanians infected with COVID-19, as it undermines the integrity and effectiveness of the commonwealth’s collective response,” state Health Secretary Rachel Levine wrote to the senators Wednesday in a letter shared by the governor’s office. “I urge you and your colleagues to consider the impact SB 613, or any other legislation which would inhibit our statewide mitigation strategy, will have on the pandemic response and associated loss of human life.”

The trend is “encouraging,” but “there is still much work to do to continue to drive new cases down,” Levine wrote. It would be “reckless and irresponsible” to encourage increased social movement, she wrote.

Not only would the CISA list allow more businesses to open, it would make it hard to the argument that many others couldn’t also open, she wrote.

State Rep. Jim Gregory, R-Hollidaysburg, sees it differently.

“My goal today was to vote ‘yes’ on Senate Bill 613 and Senate Bill 841 to provide opportunities for business sectors to return to work in Pennsylvania. That could be accomplished with safety measures in place that follow Centers for Disease Control guidelines,.” he said in a release. Several other Republicans made similar comments.

Wolf said on the state Department of Health’s daily webcast Wednesday, “I’m using common sense,” when asked by a reporter about Republican lawmakers’ accusations that his definition of “essential” is too narrow.

The Republicans may not like his closure order, but it never was non-negotiable list, given that approximately 40,000 businesses obtained a waiver that allowed them to stay open, Wolf said.

“We need to recognize that the course we’re on now is the least bad choice,” he said. “It’s the right course for Pennsylvania.”

The waiver system was “haphazard” and “riddled with inconsistency and (lacking) any sense of transparency or accountability to the public,” Ward stated.

“An unmitigated disaster,” she added.

All businesses are life-sustaining for some, including employers and their employees, she added.

Wolf also rejected the idea of supporting another bill that still being considered by the General Assembly that would let county commissioners decide when businesses could reopen.

“Everybody’s looking to the next phase,” Wolf said, when asked by a reporter about that proposal. “But we all need to do it as a commonwealth.”

He’s not comfortable “handing over the responsibility to open up, especially in areas where it might not be ready,” he added.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 949-7038.

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