08/27/2026
Appreciate my colleague Commissioner Josh Parsons for delving deeply into this important matter. As I have said previously, what the Governor and the PA Department of Health are doing here is what has eroded public trust. Why rush to put out any information where you don't have all the facts yet, especially on such a sensitive subject? This happened during COVID, where public health and other state and federal officials put out information as fact that later turned out to be misleading or completely inaccurate. Here we go again, this administration seemingly having learned nothing from that experience.
The administration should be rebuilding trust that was broken during COVID by being forthright and transparent on such matters. In addition, instead of the state working closer and more collaboratively with counties, we get little to no information or requests to assist. And when we do receive information, it is last minute or after the fact. Again, nothing learned from the experience of just a few years ago. On this issue, I appreciate PA State Rep. Dave Zimmerman for introducing and PA State Rep. Keith Greiner for co-sponsoring legislation that would have the PA DOH work directly with counties to receive data so that we can assist and work directly with our constituents. Look what we have been able to do with the storm related damage in Columbia by setting up a Resource Center, working with municipal, county, state and community agencies.
And now, the Governor has just recently proposed sweeping updated and new regulations that would give the DOH even more authority and control to potentially do the very things, and more, that the citizens of this Commonwealth said went too far when they approved Constitutional amendments in 2021. These new regulations would essentially use any daylight in the law to make these changes. Hardly anyone is talking about these new proposed draconian regulations. In light of what we are seeing now from this administration, there should be more transparency, scrutiny and discussion. You can view them here, be forewarned, it's over 500 pages long:https://www.irrc.state.pa.us/docs/3490/AGENCY/3490PRO.pdf
