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Law360 (April 16, 2020, 6:08 PM EDT) -- Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf plans to veto a GOP-backed bill passed out of the General Assembly earlier this week that would end a statewide emergency order indefinitely shuttering "non-life sustaining" businesses as the COVID-19 outbreak continues to spread, an administration spokeswoman confirmed Thursday.
Spokeswoman Lyndsay Kensinger said in an emailed statement that the bill flew in the face of social distancing measures touted by the state's secretary of health and would only result in more Pennsylvanians falling victim to the novel coronavirus that has spread across all of Pennsylvania's 67 counties.
"As the administration has stated many times, irresponsibly going against the direction of the Secretary of Health and reopening businesses too early will only extend the length of the economic hardships created by the pandemic," she said.
Wolf inked an emergency order March 19 requiring certain specified non-life sustaining businesses to close their doors as coronavirus cases started to spread steadily across the state.
As the order went into effect, the governor provided a system for certain businesses to apply for waivers that would allow them to potentially continue operating throughout the duration of the emergency.
But some business owners and GOP lawmakers have balked at what they see as a draconian measure that has ground the state's economic machinery to a halt.
The order has faced at least two unsuccessful legal challenges, one of which the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected earlier this week.
On the legislative side, the Republican-controlled Legislature passed a bill along party lines Wednesday that would override the order and require Wolf to develop a new plan that would allow businesses to open so long as they comply with Centers For Disease Control and Prevention guidance on mitigation of COVID-19.
Party leaders praised the bill after its passage Wednesday, and urged Wolf to sign it into law.
"Citizens of the commonwealth have a great resilience and strength and will go to great lengths to do what is necessary to win this fight against an invisible enemy — the COVID-19 virus. However, managing the moment cannot be our only focus," House Majority Leader Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster, said. "This bill allows the governor to join us in creating a plan for allowing businesses that can operate safely to do so, and to save countless enterprises before they close forever."
According to figures provided by the state's Department of Labor & Industry, more than 1.4 million Pennsylvania workers have filed for unemployment benefits in the last month.
Meanwhile, the state has reported nearly 30,000 cases of COVID-19 as of midday Thursday, with just over 700 deaths.
--Editing by Abbie Sarfo.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
