House Democratic Leaders: Republican COVID-19 hypocrisy continues to put Pennsylvania at risk
Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus October 1, 2020 | 4:13 PM
HARRISBURG, Oct. 1 – Following a second positive COVID-19 test by a Republican representative who has been regularly present in Harrisburg, House Democratic leaders issued the following statement decrying the continued political gamesmanship, disregard for CDC guidelines and hypocrisy of House Republicans putting members, staff and the communities they go home to at risk:
“We wish the representative a speedy recovery as he battles this serious virus.
“It’s unfortunate, however, that once again House Republicans brought members and staff to the Capitol to continue the charade of working for Pennsylvania while doing nothing to truly help our state. In the past few weeks we have done hardly anything legislatively to increase the pay for essential employees, work to fix our election code as we speed toward the upcoming General Election, provide PPE for frontline workers or provide funding for grants to help struggling small businesses.
“Among other things, Republican leadership did find time to continue their purely political attacks on Governor Tom Wolf and hold a hearing today, which ironically ended early due to the positive COVID-19 test, to attack Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine over her successful mitigation tactics that have saved thousands of lives in Pennsylvania.
“They also passed bills to name multiple bridges and authorize transfers of several pieces of state-owned land and positioned a resolution for a final vote that would cause chaos and disarray in the upcoming election by offering House Republicans a path to overturn the results.
“And they did it all while the majority of their caucus continues to disregard CDC guidelines by not wearing a mask while at the Capitol. This hypocrisy must end.
“Sticking our heads in the sand and pretending the virus isn’t real will only lead to increased sickness and more deaths while hurting our economy. We see it from President Trump at the national level and it’s unfortunate that his reckless approach has seeped into the House Republican Caucus.
“Democrats are currently in the minority but we are partners in a historic, deliberative body whose purpose is to pass laws that help the people of this state. We can only hope that our counterparts across the aisle will soon come to their senses and begin to address the urgent needs of Pennsylvania.”