Phillips-Hill votes to restore checks-and-balances in state government during COVID-19 pandemic

 

HARRISBURG – Senator Kristin Phillips-Hill (R-York) voted in support of a concurrent resolution that would terminate Governor Wolf’s emergency declaration during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“For too long, we’ve heard from a governor only through news releases. Up until a week ago, the governor would not take direct and follow-up questions from the press, he has postponed any Right-to-Know request and as a legislator, I am continuing to have to answer and explain all of the governor’s mandates while businesses remain closed, employees remain out of work and without benefits, and there is no effort to engage and work with the General Assembly,” Phillips-Hill said. “This effort will force greater transparency and collaboration among two co-equal branches of state government and allow us to work together to protect lives and restore livelihoods.”

House Resolution 836 would end the executive order Wolf used to shut down businesses, which was issued on March 6 and renewed on June 3. The governor has used the emergency declaration to change and suspend state laws, spend state and federal taxpayer dollars without the approval of the General Assembly and prevent shuttered businesses from reopening with new safety measures in place.

The resolution moves back to the House of Representatives for a concurrence vote on an amendment inserted by the Senate.

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