Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf told reporters Tuesday he wants lawmakers to focus on boosting family and worker protections this fall instead of attacking him – a criticism that didn’t land well with Republican majorities in the House and Senate.
“We need to provide relief for families. We need to provide relief for small business. We need to reform our government,” Wolf said during a news conference at Discovery Kids Childcare Center near Harrisburg. “House and Senate Democrats have fought for these things for years, but they’ve been stopped at every turn by Republicans who have been focused on ignoring the public health crisis or attacking me. That has to stop. We have to get back to doing things that matter to people.”
He then said lawmakers should prioritize legislation that enacts paid family leave, provides $3 per hour hazard pay for front line workers, cuts alcohol taxes, provides business grant funding for personal protective equipment costs, boosts early child care aid, and financially assists renters and homeowners facing high utility costs.
He also proposed legalizing recreational marijuana, banning gifts to public officials and reforming campaign finance laws, among other broad-ranging initiatives that tackle government and election transparency and security.
“The Legislature must come back and take immediate steps to provide funding to frontline workers and businesses, put in place protections for families and our workforce, and make these commonsense reforms that can provide confidence in our government,” he said. “Pennsylvanians need relief, they need reform, and they need it now.”
House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre, scoffed at the governor’s criticisms and questioned how the state – already faced a pandemic-induced budget deficit – might afford all the proposed grants.
“Gov. Wolf has spent the last six months turning his back on the people’s representatives in the General Assembly despite our numerous attempts to work with him to fight this pandemic,” he said. “It is disingenuous for this governor to put forward an unaffordable legislative agenda and require taxpayers to bail him out of his unilateral mandates that have devastated their lives and livelihoods.
Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre, said Wolf’s comments were nothing more than an attempt to provide “cover for House and Senate Democrats,” noting that the administration hasn’t spoken with legislative leaders since July. He also accused Wolf of avoiding the Capitol for months.
“It appears as if the governor is starting the fall campaign now after it’s become clear that legislative Democrats are feeling the pressure of Governor Wolf’s decisions to implement some of the most restrictive economic shutdown measures in the country and create an autocracy,” he said. “The Governor is clearly not interested in governing. If he were, he would have reached out to legislative leaders at some point during the summer to discuss a fall agenda. Instead, he sends out a political document and takes partisan shots at elected officials.”
House lawmakers intend to return to session Friday, though the Senate is not anticipated to return until next month.
