Governor Tom Wolf is questioning measures to overturn COVID-19 restrictions in the state, warning against 'dangerous' legislation that has been sent to his desk and calling on lawmakers to get serious about saving lives.
His message comes as members of his own party have backed two recent bills that would loosen restrictions. One of those bills, which would have allowed individual schools to determine crowd sizes at sporting events, failed to garner a veto override when 25 Democrats changed their minds on Wednesday.
The second, recent legislation that has garnered bipartisan support is House Bill 2513 which would loosen restrictions on restaurants by allowing bar seating and eliminating the need to purchase a meal with alcohol.
"This week the General Assembly is pursuing legislation that would disregard public health legislation," Governor Wolf said. He added, "research has show that COVID-19 can spread easily in restaurants and bars if proper mitigation efforts are not taken."
"The CDC, not us, the CDC released a study 2 weeks ago that shows that patients that tested positive for COVID-19 were twice as likely to have dined indoors at a restaurant as patients who tested negative for COVID19," said the Governor, who also called on lawmakers to stop grandstanding and get serious about saving lives.
"The General Assembly has sent a great number of dangerous legislation to my desk," said Governor Wolf, who noted that right now, because of the state's actions to prevent COVID-19 Pennsylvania has one of the lowest daily cases per capita in the nation in a 7-day rolling average. The Governor also noted that the Trump administration appointed world-renowned global health official and physician Ambassador Deborah Birx, said that Pennsylvania was doing a good job in its coronavirus response.
But a spokesperson for Senate GOP leadership, Jennifer Kocher, said "claiming legislation that implemented CDC guidelines while giving control to local school districts and governments to determine what is best for their communities is 'dangerous' shows how out of touch Governor Wolf really is. The Governor continues to campaign instead of working with the elected officials who are directly in touch with their communities. He has held more than 15 press conferences since Aug. 1 and has not once talked with Republican legislative leaders himself. His continued posturing is holding Pennsylvania back."
The Governor countered that he and lawmakers are in constant communication and have each other on 'speed dial.' So, he called the claim that he has not talked to Republicans as a 'lame excuse.'
“The fact that Gov. Wolf is flippant about his lack of engagement with the General Assembly should be concerning to every Pennsylvanian," said Jason Gottesman, spokesperson for the House Republican Caucus. "Since the beginning of this pandemic, Gov. Wolf has refused to engage with the General Assembly on any substantive legislative issue—including responses to the ongoing pandemic."
"We're talking all the time," said Governor Wolf. "I don't know what they're talking about. We have a legislative, a whole department that does nothing but reaching out to legislators on both sides of the aisle.
The Governor was asked about the bipartisan legislation that would have given individual schools the right to determine crowd sizes at sporting events. The Governor had called the measure 'meaningless' because he claimed districts already had the power to determine sports individually. He said the legislation also ignored the reality that coronavirus likes large crowds and is contagious.
“Pennsylvanians deserve better than what the governor is currently offering them and that is likely why more and more Democrats are joining us in opposing his confusing, inconsistent, and over broad mandates,” said Gottesman, who added “to stand up today behind a podium and in front of the press—literally grandstanding—while calling on the General Assembly to stop grandstanding is typical of this administration’s hypocrisy."
Meantime the Governor said lawmakers should be focusing on other issues to help the people of Pennsylvania.
"It seems to me the legislature could be dealing with things like hazard pay. We know we have to do more in terms of hazard pay. We had $50 million the first round. $900 million of applications came in," said Wolf. "I'm asking for more money for that? Where is that?"
The Governor also used the press conference to call for more transparency in government. He is pushing for legislation to implement a gift ban for public officials, improve outside income transparency, and to reform pa campaign finance laws.