An image from a subpoena that the Pa. Senate Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committee approved on Thursday, April 30, to force Gov. Tom Wolf to release more information about which businesses obtained waivers to continue operating amid coronavirus shutdown orders.
An image from a subpoena that the Pa. Senate Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committee approved on Thursday, April 30, to force Gov. Tom Wolf to release more information about which businesses obtained waivers to continue operating amid coronavirus shutdown orders.
An image from a subpoena that the Pa. Senate Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committee approved on Thursday, April 30, to force Gov. Tom Wolf to release more information about which businesses obtained waivers to continue operating amid coronavirus shutdown orders.
Jake Corman (R-Centre) has served in the Pennsylvania Senate since 1999. in those 21 years, he said he couldn’t recall a Senate committee ever issuing subpoenas against a governor.
Until Thursday.
“Clearly, you know, it hasn’t been used very often,” Corman said during a news conference.
He made the comments after the Senate Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committee voted 7-4 to subpoena records from the Wolf administration documenting how it handled more than 42,000 waiver applications from businesses seeking to remain open amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The vote was along party lines.
“This subpoena is not about transparency. It is about a political stunt,” said state Sen. Lindsey Williams (D-Allegheny). “It is about driving up to Mt. Wolf and serving a subpoena on the governor with a camera crew in tow.”
Later, state Sen. Mike Regan (R-York) dismissed any notion of a dramatic photo op, saying the subpoenas would be issued electronically.
Plenty of Democrats criticized the Wolf administration’s handling of the waiver process during Thursday’s committee hearing. But they said issuing subpoenas was a distraction during the crisis. They noted that Auditor General Eugene DePasquale’s review of the waivers, announced earlier Thursday, was the best way to identify failures in the waiver system.
What’s next? DePasquale said his audit should not be a complicated one, but he didn’t offer a timetable for completing it. And he said he does not plan to list the names of businesses that received waivers. The Wolf administration supports his audit.
Senate Republicans say the Wolf administration has until 4 p.m. May 8 to provide the waiver documents, but an attorney for the Senate acknowledged that the process could drag on in court since the Senate would need a court to enforce the subpoena. Senate Republicans say they do plan to release the names of businesses once they receive the documents.
Meanwhile, the Wolf administration says it plans to release information about waivers, but hasn’t provided a timeline.
[Editor’s thought bubble: Many news organizations, including PA Post, filed public records requests to get the same records covered by the Senate subpoena. With the governor expected to begin lifting closure orders later today, the issue may fade away. But it’s sad that the governor wasn’t transparent about the process from the start. It’s hard to fault legislators, business leaders and the public for being angry about the closures when the governor won’t explain how his orders were applied. —Russ Walker. The editors at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette make the same point more eloquently here.]
Wolf’s closure order, by the way, has gotten the attention of the U.S. Supreme Court. WHYY’s Katie Meyer reports that the high court wants the Wolf administration to respond to a lawsuit claiming that the shutdown order violated the rights of a political candidate, a golf course owner and others. The Pa. Supreme Court already heard the case and ruled in the Wolf administration’s favor, but Harrisburg attorney Marc Scaringi says it’s promising that the nation’s highest court didn’t immediately dismiss the suit when he appealed the Pa. court’s ruling. —Ed Mahon
Gene J. Puskar / AP Photo
FILE – In this Sunday, Aug. 25, 2019, file photo, River Ridge, Louisiana, lines the third baseline and Curacao lines the first baseline during team introductions before the Little League World Series Championship game at Lamade Stadium in South Williamsport, Pa. The 2020 Little League World Series and the championship tournaments in six other Little League divisions have been canceled because of the new coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
The Little League World Series, which has been held in Lycoming County for decades, won’t take place in 2020 because of the coronavirus, but the organization is still hoping some regular season games could continue, CNN reports. More coverage from NorthcentralPA.com, The Daily Item and PennLive.
Cassie Miller of Pennsylvania Capital-Star previews what to look for today as the Wolf administration expects to announce that some counties can move from red to yellow on May 8. The switch to yellow means the Wolf administration will lift some restrictions. some restrictions will be lifted. WPXI looks at the chances of some southwestern Pa. counties making the “yellow” category with Wolf’s announcement later today.
Gov. Wolf is allowing construction work to resume today, although workers will be required to follow safety guidelines. He’s also lifting restrictions on golf courses, marinas, guided fishing trips and private campgrounds. “We’re alive. … We’re back in business,” Jim Antkiewicz, director of golf at the Club at Nevillewood, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette earlier this week. “Everyone is jumping out of their skin.”
The Morning Call looked at how truckers are adjusting to the coronavirus pandemic, supply chain problems and a surge in online shopping. “Talking to these guys right now, it’s worse than Christmas,” Bob Dolan, president of the Lehigh Valley chapter of Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association, told reporter Tom Shortell.
More coronavirus must-reads
Pennsylvania Capital-Star editor John L. Micek: This is my family’s COVID-19 story. May all their lives be a blessing
The Washington Post: Studies leave question of ‘airborne’ coronavirus transmission unanswered
PennLive: UPMC doctor argues COVID-19 not as deadly as feared, says its hospitals will shift back to normal
MIT Technology Review: What if immunity to covid-19 doesn’t last?
The Inquirer: Even the best case for coronavirus deaths is worse than Trump says, according to a new Wharton model
Taking the pulse of Pa.’s media
Commercial news companies across Pennsylvania are struggling in the era of coronavirus shut downs and stay-at-home orders, just like most other businesses. Last week, PA Post began a series of short Q&As with Pennsylvania news leaders. Three two new ones were published yesterday:
If you missed them, here are links to the first two interviews: Eric Ebeling with The Indiana Gazette, and Chip Minemyer with The Tribune-Democrat in Johnstown. (Shout out to Kate Landis for the idea and for conducting the interviews.)
