HARRISBURG – Senator Kristin Phillips-Hill (R-York) released the following statement in response to Governor Wolf’s veto of House Bill 1737, which would have provided COVID-19 liability protections for school districts, colleges, universities, non-profits, health care providers and small businesses:
“From day one of this pandemic, the governor and his administration have operated without consultation of the General Assembly. Even after a non-profit, school, hospital or small business complies with his ever-shifting and confusing guidance, they can still run the risk of being sued by trial attorneys.
“The phrase of ‘we’re all in this together’ seems to have been completely forgotten now that he is ignoring the needs of those entities that have tried to do what is asked of them by public health officials in the face of this global pandemic. This veto means they can still run the risk of being hit with a lawsuit even when they tried to do the right thing.
“These forthcoming legal challenges will likely be extremely expensive – if a school district is sued, it will result in higher school property taxes for the taxpayer; it could shut down health care providers; and it could bankrupt our nonprofits and small businesses that are currently hanging on by a thread.
“Today, the governor showed he’s more concerned about padding the pockets of rich trial attorneys than standing up for and protecting our public schools, colleges, small businesses, health care providers and non-profits that worked so hard to stick to the very guidance he and his administration have asked every Pennsylvanian to blindly follow.”
You can listen to Senator Phillips-Hill’s comments here.