EXCLUSIVE: Gov. Wolf responds to News Talk 104.1 on Senate Letter regarding business closure order

Governor Wolf on Wednesday evening responded to News Talk 104.1 on the letter he received from a number of Pennsylvania State Senators (including Senator Yaw) earlier today regarding the business closure “Order.”

During a 3 p.m. press conference with Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine, Governor Wolf announced a statewide “Stay-at-Home Order” beginning at 8 p.m. tonight.

During that press conference News Talk 104.1 posed a number of questions to Governor Wolf including the following:

Question: Gov. Wolf, any response to the letter you received today from PA Senators requesting you “start working with business leaders and health experts to develop appropriate guidelines for addressing current business closures.”

Lyndsay Kensinger, Press Secretary for Governor Wolf offered the following response Wednesday evening:

“The governor is not considering reopening nonessential businesses at this time. The Surgeon General is recommending Stay at Home across the nation, and the states surrounding Pennsylvania have put into place similar orders. The statewide stay at home order is not just to protect ourselves from exposure to covid-19, but it protects our health care professionals as well. We want to get through this as quickly and safely as possible so we can restart our economy and get back to work.”

The issue of the closing of non-life sustaining businesses is currently being litigated as reported by News Talk 104.1 last evening, EXCLUSIVE: Legal Battle Over Gov. Wolf Business Closure Order Heats Up.”

Governor Wolf now has little more than 36 hours until he must file a brief with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in defense of his “Executive Order” of March 19, 2020.

On background, the business closure “Executive Order” of March 19, 2020 was met with immediate and broad push  back at nearly every level of government and private enterprise.

Congressman Fred Keller representing PA-12 weighed in the same day the “Executive Order” was issued and offered the following in opposition:

 

March 19, 2020

BREAKING NEWS: Rep. Keller calls for greater clarity of Gov. Wolf order

The following day, March 20, 2020 Keller called upon Governor Wolf to rescind the “Executive Order”.

That same day, March 20, 2020,  Keller provided information on Gov. Wolf business closures.

During a press conference Wolf was asked the following by News Talk 104.1:

Question: Congressman Fred Keller (PA-12) earlier today sent a letter to Governor Wolf including the following; “Therefore, I am requesting that you immediately rescind your order until such time that you can formulate a cogent plan to Pennsylvanians…”

The response from Governor Wolf is available in the provided audio link, and in short he refused that day to amend the “Executive Order”:

The full story of the response is available here March 20, 2020.

For further clarification of the “Executive Order”, News Talk 104.1 posed a written question to Governor Wolf during his 2 p.m. press conference that afternoon.

The question was as follows:

Question: Does the Governor believe his order is a violation of law?

If not, what law is being cited as the justification for this order?

Deputy Press Secretary for Governor Wolf, Sara J. Goulet, provided this response to News talk 104.1 that day.

“No, he does not (believe his order is a violation of law). Pursuant to the Emergency Management Services Code, the governor is granted extraordinary powers upon his declaration of a disaster emergency, such as COVID-19. Among these powers, the governor may control the ingress and egress into the disaster area, the movement of persons, and the occupancy of premises within the disaster area, which has been established to be the entire commonwealth for the COVID-19 disaster emergency. The secretary of health separately is authorized under the law to employ measures necessary for the prevention and suppression of disease.”

The order in its entirety is available here.

20200319-TWW-COVID 19-business-closure-order

Later that day, Governor Wolf issued an extension of the business closure “Order” enforcement to Monday at 8 a.m.

 

As of this publication the entire state of Pennsylvania has been ordered to stay at home with few travel exceptions and all non-life sustaining businesses currently on the list are not able to operate their physical locations.