Burns demands transparency, answers from the administration
Legislator says its ‘wildly unfair’ to lump Cambria, Pittsburgh together for reopening
Rep. Frank Burns May 5, 2020 | 12:16 PM
HARRISBURG, May 5 – Following up on his vow to get answers for taxpayers and businesses in Cambria County, state Rep. Frank Burns, D-Cambria, today demanded transparency from Department of Health Secretary Rachel Levine regarding the administration’s refusal to move Cambria County into the yellow zone for partial reopening.
“I was stunned that the administration excluded Cambria County from its reopening plan – a county that has fewer cases than some of the ones scheduled to reopen this Friday,” Burns said. “It’s extremely unfair to continue to lump Cambria County in with Pittsburgh, and to then hide behind vague metrics when questioned.”
Burns’ letter to the secretary seeks the specific criteria being used by the department to determine which counties can begin to reopen as well as a detailed explanation of why Cambria County has not yet met those benchmarks.
A copy of Burn’s letter can be found here.
Since the start of the coronavirus, Burns has been pushing back against, and demanding answers from, the governor and his administration. Over the last week, Burns has called on the governor to move Cambria County into the yellow zone to allow businesses to reopen, voted to reopen garden centers, and pushed to allow all businesses to conduct curbside pickup or delivery, noting that if the state-owned liquor stores can do so safely, so can every other local business.
“I have tried over and over to work with this administration to make thoughtful, commonsense decisions when addressing this continuing crisis,” Burns said. “I was elected to be the voice of 62,000 people in Cambria County. Well, governor, they want answers.”