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Posted on 08/26/2020 2:52:13 PM PDT by lightman
Sen. Pat Toomey and Rep. Scott Perry on Wednesday took aim at the Wolf administration’s handling of the coronavirus, blaming it for what they said was a weak state economic recovery.
At a press conference in York attended by about two dozen business leaders and elected officials, the two Republican lawmakers criticized some of the restrictions and measures rolled out by Gov. Tom Wolf intended to mitigate the spread of the highly contagious virus.
Toomey first outlined the federal response to the pandemic, including the release of trillions of dollars to states under the CARES Act, which he said significantly staved off what many had projected would be a catastrophic economic disaster. But he singled Pennsylvania out as an outlier, in particular its unemployment rate. The state’s unemployment rate hit 13.7% in July, well above the national rate of 10.2%.
“We’ve got a long way to go,” said Toomey at the press conference, which was held at the York County History Center’s Agricultural & Industrial Museum.
“I think there’s a lot of factors but part of it is we had a very severe lockdown that I think lasted longer than needed to, in some cases. In the case of restaurants it is still very, very onerous and problematic restriction that in my view is not necessary.”
Under mandated state restrictions, bars and restaurants in Pennsylvania have been ordered to reduce indoor dining capacity to 25 percent, limiting on-premises alcohol consumption to meals only, and limiting indoor gatherings to 25 people. The heads of restaurants and bars across the state - indeed the nation - have been clamoring for a bailout from Congress.
Wolf has said he expects to keep the limits on restaurants and bars for the time being to limit the spread of the virus, particularly as schools and colleges are reopening. The governor has also said the recent decline in cases indicates the state’s mitigation efforts are working.
Toomey, who prior to serving in Congress ran a small restaurant franchise in the Lehigh Valley, said that even as federal data points to rising incomes, retail sales and new home construction, the economic recovery in Pennsylvania has been stalled.
“Pennsylvania is way down in the list,” said Toomey, who is generating buzz about a prospective gubernatorial run in 2022.
Perry, a York County Republican, attributed that to the “actions of state government.” He said he daily fields calls from constituents expressing concern that they do not have access to the federal funds.
“I will tell you that I continue to be frustrated,” he said. “We essentially, in my opinion, handed this money to the states and said, ‘There’s almost no strings attached, take care of your cities, take care of your communities, institutions and businesses. Do what you have to do.” Rep. Scott Perry
Republican Congressman Scott Perry, of the 10th congressional district, on Wednesday said he is frustrated with the "changing goal post" that is states demands on federal pandemic response.
Perry criticized what he said was a “moving goal post” with regards to demands from states for federal assistance.
“We are still concerned with the amount of debt we are heaping upon ourselves right now,” said Perry, who is seeking re-election for a fifth term in November. “I just want to impress on you our frustration, at least my frustration. We want to do absolutely everything we can. Do not disregard that. Don’t think it’s anything other than that but we are frustrated with the changing of the goal post on a pretty regular basis.”
Pennsylvania received approximately $5 billion in federal pandemic assistance; about $1 billion has yet to be disbursed. Wolf has increasingly come under fire by state Republicans over mandated coronavirus-related restrictions and disbursement of the federal funds. Pennsylvania lawmakers have signaled that they will not release the remaining federal aid for coronavirus relief until Washington decides on a second stimulus package.
Republicans this summer challenged the extent of Wolf’s emergency power, but in July the state Supreme Court affirmed the governor’s authority to manage the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
More than 600,000 Pennsylvanians are currently collecting unemployment. Some of those workers could be eligible for an additional weekly $300 in financial assistance approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in recent days.
Perry noted that back in March as the pandemic began to surge across parts of the country, lawmakers were under the impression that “we were going to flatten the curve.”
“None of us in Washington had envisioned states collectively shutting down for this extended period of time,” Perry said.
Coronavirus cases are dropping in Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 501 coronavirus cases Wednesday, continuing a trend of declining infections this month. The statewide total of coronavirus cases stands at 130,536 and more than 7,500 deaths have been tied to COVID-19.
With regards to requests from local governments to “do something,” Perry said, “The horse is already out of the barn. We did what we could. That has been very very frustrating.”
York Mayor Michael Helfrich made an appeal on behalf of his city and other third-tier municipalities, which he said have largely been left out of the federal pandemic relief.
Helfrich noted that since York County did not make the population benchmark that would have allowed it to receive the federal funds directly, the city of York has had to negotiate with the state for release of the funds.
He said the city continues to hemorrhage financially and stands to lose 5 to 10 percent of total revenue. He said he has been unable to hire police and even replace officers who retire.
“We just don’t have the money,” said Helfrich, a Democrat. “Most third-class cities are in the exact same position. So the federal government is telling us we are not going to fund you directly and the state government has not been giving us the money unless we can align with COVID expenses. That does not help us. That doesn’t help police, fire, all the employees, all the things that the city has to do to support citizens.”
Helfrich said the process needs to be changed.
“We need to lift restrictions on that money so that municipalities can continue to function and be made whole or at least partially whole for the massive amounts of money we have lost,” he said.
Toomey said the initial thought had been to allow states to handle disbursement of the federal pandemic relief money because “they are going to know their municipalities far better than we ever will.
“There was an expectation among some in Harrisburg that we would release restrictions on how the money would be used,” Toomey said. “That hasn’t happened yet. It’s likely to happen.”
Yet Toomey said he understood why state governments might want to hold on to some of the CARES Act money in anticipation of the federal government easing restrictions on how it is used.
“I understand the feeling that ‘We ought to leave money aside until we have legal authority to do whatever we want with it,” he said.
Both Toomey and Perry spoke about the next round of federal pandemic assistance and what that might look like.
Toomey said GOP lawmakers and officials from the administration hold a daily call with the president about whether or not Washington should release additional money to states and what that might look like.
Congress remains divided along partisan lines over that issue: Democrats want around $1 trillion in state and local aid; the White House has offered $150 billion. Republicans previously wanted no additional money at all.
Toomey on Wednesday seemed to soften a previously tough stance on additional relief funding. In July during an interview with CNBC, the Republican lawmaker pointed to the $1 billion Pennsylvania still has in reserves, noting that many states had spent less than a quarter of the direct stimulus.
Toomey said liability protection for employers would have to be an important component of that prospective legislation. The senator said he has been approached by business leaders as well as the heads of colleges and hospitals expressing concerns over lawsuits as their institutions re-open.
“All are very much concerned that they don’t want to do everything as they are supposed to and then get hit with a wave of lawsuits,” said Toomey, a member of the Senate Finance Committee. “I do think that is a legitimate concern.”
Toomey said lawmakers continue to foster cross-party dialogue.
“My expectation is that there will be a deal at some point,” he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens by the end of September.”
Pennsylvania Ping!
Please ping me with articles of interest.
FReepmail me to be added to the list.
Toomey showing a pulse. I honestly wasn’t sure.
poor Pennsylvania, controlled by a he/she/it who doesn’t
even know his gender,
solely focused on saving his Mommy
before the Gov’nor. sent hundreds of
tagged, bagged, & infected elderly
to devastate and empty
the nursing homes (with Mommy’s bed now empty)
and pension rolls.
“ “Pennsylvania is way down in the list,” said Toomey, who is generating buzz about a prospective gubernatorial run in 2022.”
Not surprised, but WHAT a disappointment is Toomey. He ran on being a fiscally conservative Tea Party patriot and he ended up a damn RINO.
I saw somewhere that Idaho was in the process of voting out the restrictions. It would help if states would buck up some courage and start throwing this stuff out. If a few Republican states will do it, the rest would almost have to follow.
Did Arlen Toomey wear a mask and social distance?
With the personality of a damp mop, but against Josh Shapiro (who I assume will run) he looks like George Washington.
I don’t care for Toomey anymore, as he has proven himself to be suck a weak sister on numerous issues.
The Pa house and senate did vote to stop the emergency powers exactly as the law requires. The PA supreme court rewrote the law title 35.
Toomey never shows up at Northampton County Republican functions, even when Mike Pence was here to speak at Hotel Bethlehem. When we went to a Trump rally in Hershey, Toomey wasn’t there either.
Toomey the Tumor.
Best dealt with as with any malignancy.
Toomey the Tumor’s only hope for Pennsylvanians in his weekly emails is “wear a mask”.
MUZZLE up, you d@mn RINO!
Learn this lesson well:
It is NOT enough merely to capture a bare majority in a legislative chamber.
We MUST capture a VETO-PROOF majority!!!
Forgot to mention that Toomey never shows up at the annual Northampton County GOP Lincoln Day Breakfast either. You can meet the local candidates, judicial candidates, & people running for Governor there.
“ With the personality of a damp mop, but against Josh Shapiro (who I assume will run) he looks like George Washington.”
The lesser of two evils again. Where is our PA Trump?
Maybe Guy Reschenthaller, But he’s still too young to run for Governor.
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