Burns votes to stop closures of state centers like Ebensburg
Challenges governor to meet with families, residents before future decisions
Rep. Frank Burns January 15, 2020 | 3:08 PM
EBENSBURG, Feb. 15 – On Wednesday members of the Pennsylvania House – including state Rep. Frank Burns, D-Cambria -- cast a bipartisan vote to stop Gov. Tom Wolf’s cruel decision to close two state centers for the intellectually disabled in Pennsylvania, and to put a moratorium on future closures of other centers, including the one in Ebensburg.
“Two years-ago I invited the governor to come tour the Ebensburg Center after it was announced it would be closed,” Burns said “I wanted him to look – in the eye – the people whose lives he would be upending and to understand the pain he was causing them and their families. Two years later he has yet to accept my invitation, despite his continued efforts to close these vital centers.”
Under S.B. 906, a moratorium would be enacted on the scheduled closing of both White Haven and Polk centers. The House further amended the bill to include the appointment of a task force which will evaluate the state centers and provide recommendations to the Department of Human Services prior to the closure of one or more state centers.
As the lead public figure in the 2017 fight to keep Ebensburg State Center from closure amid a huge public outcry, Burns knowns full well the fear and upheaval the announced closures have caused in the lives of employees, residents and their families.
“I’m proud of my fellow legislators in joining me in a vote to stop this closure and to prevent other closures in the immediate future,” Burns said. “The people have spoken, and Gov. Wolf and his administration need to listen.”