Gasquet, Flipkens among 7 on stricter protocols at US Open

125602594_web1_Letter-to-the-editor1

Stones, Young can have their music back

WILKES-BARRE &mdash; Rep. Tarah Toohil was among dozens of House Republicans who joined together Wednesday morning to call for an end to Gov. Tom Wolf&rsquo;s 180-day COVID-19 emergency declaration.
				Toohil, R-Butler Township, said that Pennsylvania&rsquo;s children are the greatest casualty of the prolonged shutdown.
				&ldquo;I speak on behalf of the voiceless children all over Pennsylvania, and their reality has been painful. For them, the last 180 days of quarantine and isolation has been a nightmare,&rdquo; Toohil said. &ldquo;The state has yet to tally the increase in child deaths and near-deaths resulting from the lockdown order, but the facts are grim and they are being ignored by our governor. The number of child deaths caused by abuse, drug use and more have skyrocketed.&rdquo;
				Pennsylvania House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre/Mifflin, said unsupported by data, Gov. Wolf&rsquo;s &ldquo;confusing, unfair and ever-changing orders have hurt family-run businesses, many of which after operating for generations will never be able to open their doors again.&rdquo;
				Benninghoff went on to say, &ldquo;To get all Pennsylvanians back to work, we must bring the governor&rsquo;s unbridled, never-ending emergency declaration to a conclusion.&rdquo;
				House Health Committee Chairman Kathy Rapp, R-Warren/Crawford/Forest, said the need for the governor&rsquo;s emergency declaration no longer exists since Pennsylvania has met the stated goals of the original order.
				&ldquo;First and foremost, Pennsylvania has successfully flattened the curve and built up our health care capacity by driving out millions of dollars in frontline funding for Personal Protective Equipment and other critical medical supplies,&rdquo; Rapp said. 
				Rep. Seth Grove, R-York, discussed the fact that the data does not support a continued use of emergency powers by the governor.
				&ldquo;Unfortunately, the Wolf administration is obsessed with managing this now localized virus under statewide draconian mandates and rule by confusion and inconsistency,&rdquo; Grove said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s time to end the declaration and put into place a more reasonable and measured response supported by the actual data. Pennsylvania doesn&rsquo;t need more copy and paste policies from other states.&rdquo;

Toohil among Republicans calling for end to Wolf’s emergency declaration