YORK – The Republican state legislators from York and Adams Counties, including Senators Kristin Phillips-Hill (R-York), Mike Regan (R-Cumberland/York), Dave Arnold (R-Lebanon/Dauphin/York) and Doug Mastriano (R-Adams/Cumberland/Franklin/York), and Representatives Torren Ecker (R-Adams/Cumberland), Keith Gillespie (R-York), Seth Grove (R-York), Mike Jones (R-York), Dawn Keefer (R-Cumberland/York), Kate Klunk (R-York), Dan Moul (R-Adams) and Stan Saylor (R-York) released the following statement regarding Governor Wolf’s news conference in York calling on legislative action on small business relief:
“Governor Wolf’s dog-and-pony show today in York is nothing more than empty words. The reason why our small businesses are struggling is because the governor enacted prolonged and inconsistent business shutdown policies which led to Pennsylvania having the second-highest number of unemployed individuals in the entire country. Small businesses took the brunt of the damage from his decisions. His policies have benefited corporate-owned big box stores that have operated with very few restrictions over the last six months, all while our locally owned businesses, including our family-owned bars, restaurants and taverns, continue to face barriers not backed by any publicly accessible data.
“Instead of communicating with legislators and seeking bipartisan solutions, we found out about this event from a news release. If the governor really wants to work with the General Assembly, he should sit down with us on those rare occasions when he ventures out of his home in York County. Our offices are open and continue to explain what each of his unilateral edicts and mandates mean for our small businesses. We look forward to hearing from the governor, but communication should not be a one-way street. He has operated for six months without seeking legislative input. It’s far past time for him to sit down and talk with legislators instead of dictating his orders by press release and scheduling last-second photo ops that do nothing to help Pennsylvanians.”