Senator Dan Laughlin issued the following statement regarding Erie County’s continued status as a “yellow” county under the Administration’s COVID-19 reopening plan.
“I was disappointed last week that Erie County wasn’t moving to the ‘green’ phase today. Now, I am beyond irritated that we are being held in limbo for yet another week. I have no idea what the Governor and Health Secretary are thinking with this decision. It flies against reason. We are beyond the point where the Administration can hide behind its opaque list of metrics. The Governor has repeatedly displayed a boatload of hypocrisy by flaunting his own orders even as the shopkeepers of Downtown Erie, in his view, need Big Government to keep them safe. This is beyond ludicrous, it is a direct smack in the face to all Erie County residents.
“Not only is this continued and unnecessary restriction a direct attack on personal freedom, it is a knife in the back to our local businesses that are losing customers to competitors in New York and Ohio. I have no idea if the Governor or the Health Secretary have any idea what standards they are using to reopen the state, but Erie County certainly checked all of those boxes off a week ago and should already be in the green phase.
“The Governor has given himself the ultimate authority to make these decisions with his declaration of the State of Emergency. By law he is the only one who can change our status from yellow to green. The entire delegation of elected officials from both sides of the aisle as well as our local hospitals and the County Health Department have stated their cases for allowing our businesses to survive by opening restrictions to match most other counties in the state. I believe the Governor owes us a detailed explanation as to why Erie County is singled out in this fashion.”
A copy of the Erie County delegation’s letter to the Governor is included with this release.
Contact: Matt Azeles mazeles@pasen.gov