JIM CHRISTIANA FOR SENATE issued the following announcement on June 16.
State Rep. Aaron Bernstine was one of the co-sponsors on a resolution introducing articles of impeachment against Gov. Tom Wolf for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
State Rep. Aaron Bernstine was one of 24 co-sponsors on fellow Republican Rep. Daryl Metcalfe’s articles of impeachment against Gov. Tom Wolf for his handling of the COVID-19 outbreak and shutdown.
“While these are certainly unprecedented and chaotic times, Gov. Tom Wolf must be held accountable for his actions that have harmed so many of our citizens and violated so many of our rights,” Metcalfe, R-12, Cranberry Township, said in a statement.
All of the co-sponsors on Metcalfe’s House Resolution 915 are Republicans. Bernstine, R-10, New Beaver, could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
Metcalfe introduced five articles of impeachment that claim Wolf lacked the authority to order a shutdown, had the state Department of Community and Economic Development create a waiver program for businesses that was “applied in an arbitrary and capricious manner,” and failed to have state unemployment agencies “appropriately staff and administer unemployment compensation offices,” leading to claimants not receiving benefits in a timely manner.
The resolution also accuses Wolf of failing to protect nursing homes residents, citing the state Department of Health’s March 18 directive to homes to “admit and readmit” residents who were COVID-19 positive, and of withholding information from the public about the pandemic and allowing state departments to ignore the Right-to-Know Law.
“Wolf’s unconstitutional dictates and Orwellian overreach into our lives and the marketplace has caused immeasurable harm and hardship for far more Pennsylvanians than the virus,” said Metcalfe, one of the Legislature’s most conservative members. “We must not and cannot ignore the more than 3,000 deaths in Pennsylvania’s nursing homes and long-term care facilities that are directly linked to Wolf’s and his secretary’s unconscionable orders to admit infected COVID-19 patients.”
Metcalfe was referring to state Department of Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine.
Although all 67 counties are now in the yellow or green phases of Wolf’s reopening plan, Republicans have continued to criticize the governor for his handling of the pandemic and the economic impact of his business closures in the red phase.
The GOP-controlled House and Senate also recently approved a measure, with some Democratic support, invalidating Wolf’s disaster declaration, which the governor is now fighting in state Supreme Court.
After that resolution passed June 11, Bernstine posted a statement on his Facebook page explaining the action.
“The House and Senate have tried to engage the governor in discussions about planning a path forward. People are hurting, they are hungry and they are hopeless,” he said. “They deserve answers and a vision for how we are going to emerge on the other side of this pandemic. Instead, they are left wondering without clear information or guidance from their leaders. Adopting this resolution was not our first choice, but it was absolutely necessary at this point.”
Original source here.
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