opinion
The House of Representatives has been hard at work throughout the course of this pandemic, continuing our fight for the people of Pennsylvania as we work to safely reopen businesses that can comply with scientific guidelines outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) while continuing to protect our citizens, frontline health care providers and first responders from the COVID-19 pandemic. I wanted to take this opportunity to give you an update on the most recent bills passed by the House.
We passed Senate Bill 613 that would help create clear and consistent guidelines about business closures and give businesses across the Commonwealth the opportunity to reopen ONLY IF they could do so safely. While the bill was ultimately vetoed, it’s clear our vote to start reopening the economy safely using scientific CDC guidelines encouraged the governor to take a step in this direction himself by setting May 8 as a target date to partially resume private construction and possibly start lifting stay-at-home orders in areas of the state with minimal COVID-19 cases.
To help keep us moving in the direction of safely reopening the construction industry, we passed House Bill 2400, which would allow all public and private construction activities that can adhere to scientific CDC guidelines to protect workers to resume operations. These efforts also made a difference, as the governor announced Wednesday evening he would now allow the reopening of ALL construction on May 1. This is an industry that has continued to operate without interruption in the vast majority of other states because it is important work but also because it is an industry that can easily comply with CDC guidelines.
We passed Senate Bill 841 to, among other things, allow online car sales in the Commonwealth. The governor has signed this bill into law. Surrounding states have allowed dealerships to remain open to sell cars in a safe manner, and I believe Pennsylvania should be doing the same, again following scientific CDC guidelines. On Tuesday, we passed House Bill 2388 that would allow all auto dealerships to reopen if they choose to do so, safely.
We passed House Bill 2376, the One Staffer/One Shopper bill, that would allow a retail business staffed by one employee to open for business as long as it allowed only one customer into the store at a time. The bill is designed to enable shoppers to visit smaller venue retailers and avoid the larger crowds often present at big box stores.
We passed House Bill 1822, which would provide protections for workers impacted by COVID-19, ensuring they cannot be terminated or demoted for becoming ill or abiding by a doctor’s order to quarantine.
We passed House Bill 1869 that would help ambulance companies meet staffing requirements and continue to serve their communities, as well as ensure benefits for first responders and National Guard members who may be impacted by COVID-19.
Finally, a bill to enhance the availability of telemedicine in the Commonwealth was sent to the governor’s desk on Tuesday. If signed into law by the governor, Senate Bill 857 would improve safe access to care in this time of social distancing, as well as boost accessibility and affordability of care in rural and other underserved areas of the Commonwealth.
There is still a ton of work to be done, but I am proud of the progress we have made so far. Please continue to check my Facebook page at https://ift.tt/2yN3u4a as updates are posted there regularly. If you have questions or concerns please feel free to reach out to my district office by phone at 717-840-4711, or online at https://ift.tt/2VKURjC.
Thank you for your understanding and your cooperation during these difficult and unprecedented times. There is a light at the end of this tunnel, and I am proud to work every day toward getting us there.
State Rep. Keith Gillespie is a Republican from Hellam Township.
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April 28, 2020 at 08:15PM
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House advances multiple COVID-19 bills to help Pennsylvanians - York Daily Record
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