Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

PRINTER'S NO.   615
                  THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
           HOUSE RESOLUTION
              No. 56
                                              Session of
                                                2021
     INTRODUCED BY METCALFE, BOROWICZ, CAUSER, COOK, COX, DIAMOND,
        DUNBAR, FRITZ, GLEIM, HAMM, IRVIN, JAMES, JONES, JOZWIAK,
        KAUFFMAN, KEEFER, M. MACKENZIE, R. MACKENZIE, MUSTELLO,
        PUSKARIC, RAPP, ROAE, ROWE, RYAN, SCHEMEL, SMITH, STAATS,
        WARNER, ZIMMERMAN, KNOWLES AND ECKER, FEBRUARY 24, 2021
     REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, FEBRUARY 24, 2021
                               A RESOLUTION
 Impeaching Thomas W. Wolf, Governor of Pennsylvania, for
    misbehavior in office.
    BE IT RESOLVED, That Thomas W. Wolf, Governor of
 Pennsylvania, be impeached for misbehavior in office and that
 the following Articles of Impeachment be exhibited to the
 Senate:
                            ARTICLE I
    On March 6, 2020, Governor Wolf declared a disaster emergency
 for this Commonwealth, published at 50 Pa.B. 1644 (March 21,
 2020), related to the COVID-19 outbreak as authorized under 35
 Pa.C.S. § 7301(c) (relating to general authority of Governor).
 On March 19, 2020, Governor Wolf issued an order mandating the
 closure of all businesses not deemed "life-sustaining" as
 determined by Governor Wolf's administration. On April 1, 2020,
 Governor Wolf issued a Statewide order mandating that citizens
 of this Commonwealth stay at home.
    While Governor Wolf had the legislatively delegated authority
 to declare the disaster emergency related to the COVID-19
 outbreak, Governor Wolf did not have the authority to issue
 subsequent orders following the disaster declaration that
 deprived citizens of this Commonwealth of their most basic
 rights affirmed by the Constitution of the United States.
 Governor Wolf's orders violate the prohibition against unlawful
 seizures and the right not to be deprived of property without
 due process of law or just compensation under the Fourth and
 Fifth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.
 Moreover, Governor Wolf's orders violate the right of citizens
 of this Commonwealth to equal protection under the law
 guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of
 the United States. In addition, Governor Wolf's orders violate
 the freedom of speech and freedom of assembly rights guaranteed
 to citizens of this Commonwealth by the First Amendment to the
 Constitution of the United States.
    Wherefore, Governor Thomas W. Wolf is guilty of an
 impeachable offense warranting removal from office and
 disqualification to hold any office of trust or profit under
 this Commonwealth.
                            ARTICLE II
    After Governor Wolf mandated the closure of "non-life-
 sustaining" businesses across this Commonwealth on March 19,
 2020, Governor Wolf ordered the Department of Community and
 Economic Development to create a waiver program through which
 newly shuttered businesses could apply to reopen. The waiver
 program was applied in an arbitrary and capricious manner,
 leading to inconsistent and unjust results which determined the
 fate of the livelihoods of many citizens of this Commonwealth.
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    Businesses providing the same service received different
 waiver decisions under the waiver program. Businesses which had
 been previously granted waivers under the waiver program saw the
 waivers revoked without justification. Governor Wolf did not
 create an appeals process for businesses to allow businesses to
 challenge denials under the waiver program. Governor Wolf also
 provided no detailed information to the public that would
 indicate how decisions under the waiver program were being made.
    Governor Wolf's mandated business closure orders have
 devastated this Commonwealth's economy. The draconian nature of
 Governor Wolf's mandated business closure orders, even as
 compared to similar orders in other states, ensured that this
 Commonwealth's path to economic recovery will be painful and
 slow. Many of the businesses that Governor Wolf ordered
 shuttered will never reopen. Governor Wolf's mandated business
 closure orders have disproportionally impacted small businesses
 because larger businesses which sell a variety of products were
 more easily deemed "life-essential" by Governor Wolf's
 administration.
    Wherefore, Governor Thomas W. Wolf is guilty of an
 impeachable offense warranting removal from office and
 disqualification to hold any office of trust or profit under
 this Commonwealth.
                           ARTICLE III
    While Governor Wolf knew that his mandated business closure
 orders would forcibly cause historically high unemployment in
 this Commonwealth, Governor Wolf failed to direct the Department
 of Labor and Industry and the Office of Unemployment
 Compensation to appropriately staff and administer unemployment
 compensation offices to provide citizens of this Commonwealth
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 with essential unemployment benefits. As many citizens of this
 Commonwealth found themselves no longer receiving a paycheck
 through no fault of their own, the only income available was
 through unemployment benefits administered by the Office of
 Unemployment Compensation.
    Governor Wolf's failure to direct the Department of Labor and
 Industry and the Office of Unemployment Compensation to
 appropriately staff and administer unemployment compensation
 offices after Governor Wolf issued his mandated business closure
 orders left many citizens of this Commonwealth facing delays of
 weeks and even months in merely receiving notices that they have
 been determined to be eligible to receive unemployment
 compensation benefits. Desperate citizens of this Commonwealth
 have been unable to get assistance over the phone or via email
 from unemployment compensation offices to determine when they
 will receive unemployment compensation benefits.
    Owners and employees of businesses that were forced to
 shutter under Governor Wolf's mandated business closure orders
 rely on unemployment compensation benefits to meet their most
 basic needs, including housing payments and food. Governor Wolf
 should have known well in advance and begun preparing for the
 massive influx of unemployment compensation claims after he
 issued the mandated business closure orders. Governor Wolf's
 failure to direct the Department of Labor and Industry and the
 Office of Unemployment Compensation to appropriately staff and
 administer unemployment compensation offices further contributed
 to the suffering of the citizens of this Commonwealth initially
 created by his mandated business closure orders.
    Wherefore, Governor Thomas W. Wolf is guilty of an
 impeachable offense warranting removal from office and
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 disqualification to hold any office of trust or profit under
 this Commonwealth.
                            ARTICLE IV
    Governor Wolf failed in his duty to protect the citizens of
 this Commonwealth who are most vulnerable to COVID-19: residents
 of nursing homes and long-term care facilities. Although
 Governor Wolf had ample notice that residents of nursing homes
 and long-term care facilities were at severe risk of contracting
 and dying from COVID-19, Governor Wolf failed to direct the
 Department of Health to develop and implement a comprehensive
 plan to protect them. More than two-thirds of all COVID-19-
 related fatalities in this Commonwealth have occurred in nursing
 homes and long-term care facilities.
    On March 18, 2020, the Department of Health issued guidance
 urging nursing homes and long-term care facilities to admit and
 readmit patients who had tested positive for COVID-19. This
 decision directly endangered all residents and staff of nursing
 homes and long-term care facilities. Moreover, the Department of
 Health moved far too slowly to implement COVID-19 testing for
 residents and staff of nursing homes and long-term care
 facilities in comparison to neighboring states that required
 such testing.
    Wherefore, Governor Thomas W. Wolf is guilty of an
 impeachable offense warranting removal from office and
 disqualification to hold any office of trust or profit under
 this Commonwealth.
                            ARTICLE V
    Governor Wolf has actively withheld critical information from
 the public, press and General Assembly regarding issues
 pertaining to the COVID-19 outbreak. State agencies under
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 Governor Wolf's jurisdiction have stopped responding to requests
 under the act of February 14, 2008 (P.L.6, No.3), known as the
 Right-to-Know Law, during the COVID-19 outbreak. The Governor
 has refused for months to release requested information related
 to the waiver program for reopening businesses shuttered by
 Governor Wolf's mandated business closure orders established
 under the Department of Community and Economic Development.
 While Governor Wolf has finally begun to release some of the
 relevant information regarding the waiver program, his delays
 and obfuscation have been and continue to be entirely
 unacceptable. The Governor has refused to respond to a subpoena
 issued by the Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness
 Committee of the Senate for records pertaining to the waiver
 program, forcing the Senate to take legal action to attempt to
 obtain the requested records. Numerous inquiries from the press
 seeking details about the waiver program have also been denied.
 The right of the public, press and General Assembly to access
 critical government records and information becomes more, not
 less, important during a period of crisis.
    Wherefore, Governor Thomas W. Wolf is guilty of an
 impeachable offense warranting removal from office and
 disqualification to hold any office of trust or profit under
 this Commonwealth.
    The House of Representatives hereby reserves to itself the
 right and ability to exhibit at any time hereafter further
 Articles of Impeachment against Governor Thomas W. Wolf, to
 reply to any answers that Governor Thomas W. Wolf may make to
 any Articles of Impeachment which are exhibited and to offer
 proof at trial in the Senate in support of each and every
 Article of Impeachment which shall be exhibited by them.
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