[ Because Everything Is Connected To Everything Else ] Every county in Pennsylvania last week got the green light to move to the Green Phase of reopening, except for Lebanon County, because Gov. Wolf said it did not meet the criteria.

His announcement went on to explain, “Against the advice of public health experts and against orders from Gov. Wolf and Sec. of Health Dr. Rachel Levine aimed at keeping Pennsylvanians healthy, Lebanon County commissioners voted 2 to 1 along party lines to prematurely reopen in late May. Now, the county is facing an uptick in cases, and is unable to move to green.”

Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine added, “Lebanon County’s partisan, politically driven decision to ignore public health experts and reopen prematurely is having severe consequences for the health and safety of county residents.

 “Case counts have escalated and the county is not yet ready to be reopened. Lebanon County has hindered its progress by reopening too early. Because of this irresponsible decision, Lebanon County residents are at greater risk of contracting COVID-19.”

In response to Gov. Wolf’s action, Lebanon County Republicans called Wolf a “dictator’ and a ‘loser.’  Read more here.

Some might also note Lebanon County is the home county of the prime sponsor of House Concurrent Resolution 836 -- Rep. Russ Diamond (R-Lebanon)-- that would terminate Gov. Wolf’s COVID-19 emergency declaration.  Rep. Diamond had earlier self-quarantined due to a potential exposure to the virus, but failed to tell Democrats in the House of his action.

Supremes Take Charge

On June 17, the PA Supreme Court granted Gov. Wolf’s request to review his authority for continuing the COVID-19 emergency declaration in the face of a Senate and House Republican-passed House Concurrent Resolution 836 ending his disaster order.

But the Court went one step further and also took over a lawsuit filed in Commonwealth Court by Senate Republicans asking that court to “command” the Governor to abide by their resolution.  Read more here.

The Associated Press noted, Democrats hold a five to two edge on the PA Supreme Court, but on the Commonwealth Court Republicans hold a majority.  Read more here.

Impeachment

Conservative Republican Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) and 24 other Republicans filed a formal resolution [House Resolution 915] calling for the impeachment of “dictator Wolf” for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The resolution cited five articles of impeachment claiming Gov. Wolf did not have the constitutional authority to close and “seize” businesses through his shutdown order; that the waiver program to provide relief from the shutdown order was applied in an arbitrary and capricious manner; he failed to provide essential unemployment benefits to citizens left unemployed by his actions; he failed to protect residents of nursing homes; and stopped responding to requests under the Right-To-Know law. 

In the past, Rep. Metcalfe has called for the impeachment of Attorney General Kathleen Kane for not enforcing the state’s same-sex marriage law and Pittsburgh Major Bill Peduto for passing gun control laws.  Neither were successful. Read more here.

Masks On

On June 18, Gov. Tom Wolf issued a reminder that mask-wearing is required when entering any business in all counties in the state in both yellow and green phases of reopening. Masks are considered critical in stopping the spread of COVID, now and in preparation for a possible resurgence of the virus in the fall. Read more here.

Starting June 22 the Capitol Building in Harrisburg will be open to the public and anyone else doing business there, but all visitors have to wear masks.  But will all lawmakers?  Many Republicans have not been wearing masks inside or outside the Capitol or in Harrisburg area businesses as a political statement.  Read more here.

More than 30 lawsuits have been filed against the Giant Eagle food store chain for its policy on requiring all shoppers to wear masks.  The lawsuits claimed it was discriminatory under the federal Americans With Disabilities Act.  Read more here.

An historical note, U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) was one of the first public officials to recommend everyone going out of their houses wear masks to fight COVID-19.  He also endorsed the Masks4All movement.  Read more here.

CDC Recognition

Pennsylvania was one of three states recognized by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for having a downward trajectory of new COVID-19 cases for more than 42 days.  The other states were Montana and Hawaii.  Read more here.

Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman (R-Centre) disagreed, saying “Certainly, in most communistic countries if they control the movement of their populations, they can control a lot of things,” Corman said.

“If you’re looking strictly at cases, sure maybe they lowered the cases by their activity. And if they want to pat themselves on the back, they can, but when you look at the [economic] carnage on the other side, that’s significant as well. And that has to be part of the equation when looking at their response.”  Read more here.

‘Just Recovery’

Senate and House Democrats last week outlined proposals for what they called a “Just Recovery” from the COVID-19 pandemic which also addresses inequity issues.

The elements of their plan include-- a living wage and a fair return to work for all Pennsylvanians, great schools and a superior education for all from pre-school through college; career and technical training; access to quality health care and testing; a roof over every head; tax cuts for working families to ensure no one is taxed into poverty; and safe voting options and integrity to guarantee every voice is heard and every vote is counted.  Read more here and here.

Emergency Fight Moves To PUC

The fight between Republicans and Democrats over whether the COVID-19 disaster emergency should continue extended to the Public Utility Commission last week when Republican Commissioner John Coleman to end the termination moratorium put in place in March by the PUC in response to the COVID-19 pandemic emergency.

The motion failed on a vote of 2 to 2 [there is currently a vacancy on the Commission] with the panel’s Democrats opposing the motion and the panel’s Republicans backing it.

In making the motion, Commissioner Coleman said Gov. Wolf’s emergency declaration could end at any time and was being challenged in court by Senate Republicans.  Read more here.

COVID-19 Death Toll

The number of deaths from COVID-19 increased from 6,215 deaths on June 14 to 6,423 deaths on June 21. The number of people testing positive for the virus went from 78,798 on June 14 to 81,730 on June 21.

Unemployment Down 3%

On June 19, the Department of Labor & Industry reported Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was down 3.0 percentage points over the month to 13.1 percent in May.   It was 15.1 percent in April.  The national rate fell 1.4 percentage points from May to 13.3 percent.

The Commonwealth’s unemployment rate increased by 8.9 percentage points from May 2019 while the national rate was up 9.7 points over the year. Read more here.

As of June 17, the total number of unemployment claims from March 15 are 2,132,891, up from 1,950,105 last week.

May Gaming Revenue Down

On June 16, the PA Gaming Control Board reported overall gaming revenue was down 79 percent in May of this year compared to May 2019.  Tax revenue from all forms of gaming in May 2020 was $25,762,836.

The $55,838,789 May online casino-type revenue figure was more than double the revenue generated from those games in March when revenue stood at $24,884,830.

More casinos will be reopening in the next week as more counties move in the Green Phase which should bring in more tax revenue to the state.

The full May revenue report is available online.

VGT Gaming Expansion

Retiring President Pro Tempore of the Senate Joe Scarnati (R-Jefferson) and other top Republicans are working to fast-track legislation before the summer break to expand gambling through video gaming terminals across the state that would benefit a major campaign donor, according to Spotlight PA.

The legislative push comes at a time when the state needs revenue because of the impact of COVID-19 and would expand VGTs beyond truckstops to bars, taverns, social clubs and other venues with liquor licenses.  The bill, reportedly, would also regulate so-called “skill games” that are illegal but in thousands of venues across the state.

The owners of the 13 licensed casinos in the state wrote to legislative leaders last week, according to Spotlight PA, opposing the expansion which they believe would have a “devastating” impact on their casinos and the State Lottery.

George Floyd Protests

The House Judiciary Committee reported two bills last week dealing with police reform issues that are scheduled for a final vote by the full House this week.

The bills would update use-of-force and racial awareness training for law enforcement and require regular PTSD checks for officers-- House Bill 1841 (Readshaw-D-Allegheny).  The other would create a confidential statewide database of police personnel files that include any criminal charges, civil or ethics complaints by the public, and internal complaints of harassment, discrimination, sexual misconduct or domestic violence-- House Bill 1910 (Williams-D-Chester).

Gov. Wolf called action by the House Committee encouraging and timely.  Read more here.

Here’s some coverage of the House action--

-- Spotlight PA: PA Advances Reforms To Create Confidential Police Disciplinary Database

-- Stephen Caruso: House Panel Approves Police Reform Bills, With Full Vote Next Week

-- Jan Murphy: PA Lawmakers To Tackle Police Reform In Wake Of George Floyd Death

The Senate Judiciary and Law and Justice Committee held two days of hearings last week on accountability and equality in law enforcement and the criminal justice system also in response to the George Floyd protests.  Click Here for videos, written testimony.

They heard from a broad array of witnesses suggesting changes ranging from making police discipline records public, sidelining officers with mental health histories, recruitment, training and much more.

Here’s just some of the coverage of the Senate hearing--

-- AP-Marc Levy: Lawmakers Urged To Make Police Discipline Records Public

-- Cap-Star: PA Board Sidelining Police Officers With Mental Health Histories, Advocates Say It’s Proof Of A Problematic Law

-- PLS Reporter: Senate Hearing Examines Law Enforcement Recruitment, Training

Lawmakers are also starting to bring in issues beyond law enforcement, like a recent call by House Minority Leader Frank Dermody (D-Allegheny) to fix what he called the unfair public school funding system that reinforced community inequity.  Read more here.

The George Floyd protests continued last week across the state, but then turned into a commemoration of the June 19 “Juneteenth” anniversary of the end of slavery in the United States.

For the first time, Gov. Wolf gave state workers an official holiday to recognize Juneteenth.  Read more here.

Here’s some of the coverage from last week--

-- Two Years After Antwon Rose Killing, His Mother Continues Call For Police Reform

-- Inside PA’s Latino Communities, A Frank Discussion Of Race And Prejudice

-- Cap-Star: Qualified Immunity Explained, And Why Police Reformers Want It To End

-- Republican Montgomery County Commissioner Called Black Lives Matter A ‘Hate Group’ Now More Isolated Than Ever

-- In NE PA, A Joyous Celebration Of Juneteenth, And A Call To Action

-- PA National Guard Squad Helped With Aerial Surveillance Of Washington, D.C. Protests

-- Op-Ed: Education Is An Institution Rife With Historic Inequities, We Have Work To Do - Secretary Of Education

-- PNC Commits $1 Billion To Programs, Efforts To Stem Systemic Racism

Still Counting

A handful of counties are still counting votes cast on June 2, but should soon be finished.

As of last Tuesday Philadelphia, Delaware, Lehigh, Luzerne and Montgomery had not yet finished. Provisional and mail-in ballots were the main reason for the delay.  Read more here.

On June 18, Gov. Wolf signed bipartisan legislation that requires a comprehensive report on the Primary to identify any changes in law needed before the November 3 election.  Read more here.

But lawmakers, like Sen. Steve Santarsiero (D-Bucks), are already talking about changes to allow counties to start processing ballots ahead of election day.  Election officials are anticipating even more mail-in ballots for November.  Read more here.

Click Here for a more robust analysis of who voted June 2 and how.

Who Won’t Be Back

PA Capital- Star did a handy rundown on who won’t be back in the Senate and House in 2021 because they either retired or lost their Primary election.  Read more here.

Senate

Sen. Andrew Dinniman (D-Chester) - Rep. Carolyn Comitta (D-Chester) running to replace

Sen. Larry Farnese (D-Philadelphia) - Lost

Sen. Daylin Leach (D-Montgomery) - Lost

Sen. Joe Scarnati (R-Jefferson) - Rep. Chris Dush (R-Jefferson) running to replace

House

Rep. Stephen Barrar (R-Delaware)

Rep. Thomas Caltagirone (D-Berks)

Rep. Maria Donatucci (D-Delaware) - Lost

Rep. Garth Everett (R-Lycoming)

Rep. Matt Gabler (R-Clearfield)

Rep. Neal Goodman (D-Schuylkill)

Rep. Roni Green (D-Philadelphia) - Lost

Rep. Marcia Hahn (R-Northampton)

Rep. Mark Keller (R-Perry)

Rep. Bill Kortz (D-Allegheny)

Rep. Steve McCarter (D-Montgomery)

Rep. Thomas Murt (R-Montgomery)

Rep. Adam Ravenstahl (D-Pittsburgh) - Lost

Rep. Harry Readshaw (D-Allegheny)

Rep. James Roebuck (D-Philadelphia) - Lost

Rep. Justin Simmons (R-Northampton)

Rep. Mike Tobash (R-Schuylkill)

Rep. Marcy Toepel (R-Montgomery)

Rep. Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny)

Rep. Rosita Youngblood (D-Philadelphia)

Historic Auditor General’s Race

No matter who wins, the statewide race for Auditor General will be historic-- both major parties have nominated candidates of color for the position.

Nina Ahmad, who came to the United States from Bangladesh as a student 40 years ago, has apparently won a six-way Democratic Party primary as counting wraps up.  Tim DeFoor, the Republican Party’s uncontested nominee, is African American.  Read more here.

Pot On Probation

In a unanimous ruling, the PA Supreme Court struck down a Lebanon County court system rule prohibiting people on probation and parole from using medical marijuana.  The county reasoned marijuana was still illegal under federal law, even though it was legal under state law.  Read more here.

What’s Next?

After June 22, 23, and 24, the House has not scheduled any more voting days in June, but they remain at the call of the interim House Speaker.

Speaking of Speakers, the House is expected to take steps to name a new Speaker next week as well as move at least two police reform bills, bills opening more businesses from the shutdown and hold a Committee information meeting on resident COVID-19 safety in long-term care facilities.

The Senate is scheduled to be in voting session June 22, 23, 24, 29 and 30, but we’ll see if they really are.  They are also technically at the call of the President Pro Tempore.

Senate committees will look to move legislation on expanding broadband access and has  hearings planned on COVID-19 update on long-term care facilities, Pharmacy Benefit Managers pricing and DEP’s proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Program for power plants.

NewsClips:

Click Here For A Week’s Worth Of Political NewsClips

Click Here For PA Coronavirus NewsClips

Click Here For A Week’s Worth Of Environment & Energy NewsClips

[Posted: June 21, 2020]

6/22/2020