State House Votes to End Wolf’s COVID-19 Emergency Declaration

UPDATE: On June 9, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives voted to adopt concurrent House Resolution 836 to formally end Gov. Tom Wolf coronavirus Disaster Emergency order. Read more: It’s Over – Pennsylvania General Assembly Votes to End Governor’s Coronavirus Disaster Emergency

Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives voted Thursday night to end Governor Tom Wolf’s COVID-19 Disaster Emergency.

House Resolution 836 passed the State House by a 117-85 at 10:48 p.m.

No Republicans voted against the resolution. And 8 Democrats in the House also voted in favor of the legislation.

Locally, Reps. Jerry Knowles (124th District) and Mike Tobash (125th) voted in favor of HR 836. Democrat Rep. Neal Goodman (123rd) voted against the resolution. This resolution was introduced weeks ago by Rep. Russ Diamond of Lebanon County.

Pennsylvania House Votes to End Wolf’s Disaster Emergency

The State Senate will now take up a similar piece of legislation known as Senate Resolution 323. That was introduced, in part by State Sen. Dave Argall, who represents Schuylkill County and part of Berks County, back on April 13.

If SR323 passes the Senate as it’s expected to do, it will force Gov. Wolf to issue an executive order or proclamation that would end the Disaster Emergency declaration he issued back on March 6.

When these pieces of legislation were introduced, they were done so as a potential last resort. It was hoped that Wolf would work with the General Assembly in response to the health and economic disaster created by the Chinese virus pandemic.

However, since declaring the Disaster Emergency back in March, Wolf and his unelected bureaucrats have acted unilaterally in response to the pandemic. In many cases, their actions have been disastrous to Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable citizens and to its many small businesses.

Some of those decisions include the mind-boggling order from the Dept. of Health Secretary Rachel Levine to send COVID-19 positive patients from a hospital into nursing homes, potentially infecting thousands of senior citizens with the deadly virus.

Nearly 70% of all Pennsylvania’s reported deaths attributed to the virus have been in nursing homes.

And then there’s been the secretive business waiver list. Although Wolf declared that only so-called life-sustaining businesses could remain open throughout the pandemic response, waivers were granted to others.

However, the state’s Dept. of Community and Economic Development has kept that process secret. Only under pressure of subpoena did DCED release a list of businesses that were granted waivers. But, the list didn’t include why they were allowed to remain open. And DCED failed to release a list of businesses that were denied waivers and the reasons why they were denied.

Pennsylvania House Resolution 836

Read HR836 in full:

[pdf-embedder url=”https://coalregioncanary.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/HR-836.pdf” title=”HR 836″]

Pennsylvania Senate Resolution 323

Read SR323 in full:

[pdf-embedder url=”https://coalregioncanary.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/SR323.pdf”]

ALSO READ: 

• As Pennsylvania Small Businesses Struggle, Governor Pushes for Job-Killing $15 Minimum Wage
• The Green Phase is NOT the Goal – Wolf Conditioning for a “New Normal”
• Are Masks Really Mandatory in Pennsylvania? Probably Maybe
• Riot Act of 2020 – Tom Wolf Says Schuylkill County is Selfish, Cowardly and Surrendered to Chinese Virus

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