Wolf avoids harsh words for Philly’s mayor, President Trump and Republican legislators

GOP leaders say rhetoric doesn't match 'unilateral' actions

• Ed Mahon
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  Ed Mahon comes to Spotlight PA from PA Post, where he covered state politics and policy, produced radio stories that were broadcast on public media stations throughout the state and on NPR’s national newscasts, and co-wrote a weekday newsletter. Prior to joining PA Post, Ed worked for six years as an investigative and political reporter for the York Daily Record, part of the USA Today Network. His reporting on failures in Pennsylvania’s system for protecting domestic abuse victims was a finalist in the national 2018 Livingston Awards for Young Journalists in the local reporting category. He was also part of a team whose coverage of the criminal justice system, including the aggressive use of civil asset forfeiture by York County prosecutors, received the 2018 G. Richard Dew Award for Journalistic Service from the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association. Before joining the York Daily Record, Ed covered K-12 education at the Centre Daily Times in State College and worked as a stringer for suburban sections of The Philadelphia Inquirer. He grew up in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

 Courtesy Gov. Wolf livestream / PA Post

During an April 17 news conference, Gov. Tom Wolf said it was time to start talking about reopening the state's economy. The news conference was live streamed with a sign language interpreter.

Courtesy Gov. Wolf livestream / PA Post

During an April 17 news conference, Gov. Tom Wolf said it was time to start talking about reopening the state’s economy. The news conference was live streamed with a sign language interpreter. (Image via Gov. Wolf livestream)

A moment from early in the coronavirus crisis has stuck with me. It was March 14, a Saturday, just before Gov. Tom Wolf switched to virtual press conferences as a precaution.

Wolf had already ordered schools in Montgomery and Delaware counties to close, and at a news conference at PEMA headquarters, he announced the rollout of the same mitigation efforts in Chester and Bucks counties.

But, in Philadelphia, Mayor Jim Kenney wasn’t ordering similar restrictions, and on the same day, he suggested people should wash their hands and keep a distance from others, but still go out to dinner and tip their waitstaff.

A reporter asked Wolf if Kenney’s message was irresponsible.

“That’s pretty harsh,” Wolf said. “I would say that we’re in new territory. We’re all trying to do our best. I’m sure he is. I know I am. …There will be some disagreements. We’ll learn things from each other. And as we move through this, we’ll, I’m sure, change our minds many times.”

Two days later, Kenney and Wolf both separately announced sweeping restrictions. The moment stuck with me because Wolf has struck a similar low-key tone throughout the crisis — even as he expands his use of emergency powers and disagrees more and more with Republican lawmakers and others who want more businesses to reopen.

This week, Republicans who control the General Assembly passed legislation that would open up more businesses, including many types of construction. They say Pennsylvania’s restrictions go further than those in many other states. In letters to lawmakers, Wolf’s health secretary, Dr. Rachel Levine, said encouraging social movement by reopening a significant amount of business “would be reckless and irresponsible.”

But Wolf avoided harsh words and confrontational remarks at news conferences.

“I’m not sure whether there are people who are willing to ignore science,” Wolf said on Friday when asked about an emerging “adversarial” attitude toward the closures. He said people want to get back to work and they also want to keep each other safe.

“We are trying to steer the fine line between those two,” he said.

Politico’s Holly Otterbein, who previously worked for Philadelphia magazine and The Philadelphia Inquirer, looked at how Wolf’s “keep-his-head down approach” differs from many other Democratic governors. She writes:

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer recently wore a T-shirt on “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah” that read “That Woman from Michigan,” poking fun at Trump’s diss of her. On “Meet the Press,” Washington Gov. Jay Inslee quipped, “Can you imagine if Franklin Delano Roosevelt said, ‘I’ll be right behind you, Connecticut. Good luck building those battleships?’” On Tuesday, (New York Gov. Andrew) Cuomo said of Trump’s assertion of “total” authority, “We don’t have a king in this country.”

Wolf told Otterbein that his style “is just me — I’ve been like this since I was a kid.” She notes that the state’s per capita ranking for coronavirus cases is significantly lower than New York’s and New Jersey’s, and she provides examples of how his approach has kept him off Trump’s enemy list.

Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers in Harrisburg are increasingly at odds with him — regardless of how he delivers his message.

“We are tired of hearing his rhetoric that he wants to work with us, while at the same time making unilateral decisions,” Senate Republican leaders said in a statement Friday. “It is far past time for him to abandon his go-it-alone approach and come to the table to work with the General Assembly on real solutions.”

So what are their options? Wolf issued his emergency declaration on March 6, and it lasts 90 days unless he renews it or lawmakers pass a concurrent resolution to terminate it.

I asked Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman (R-Centre) last week, just after the Senate passed bills to open up more businesses, if there was any interest in revoking the governor’s emergency powers.

“I don’t think that’s under consideration at this point in time,” Corman said. “You know, obviously, we’re in an emergency right now, particularly in the southeastern part of the state.”

How lawmakers try to put pressure on Wolf in other ways — maybe by passing more reopening measures, maybe in how they negotiate with Wolf over the state budget or some of the recovery measures he’s proposed — is something I’ll be watching in the weeks and months ahead.

Best of the rest

AP Photo/Andrew Welsh-Huggins

About 75 people wearing masks and carrying signs protest outside the Ohio Statehouse on Thursday, April 9, 2020, in Columbus, Ohio. The protesters criticized the state’s shutdown of the economy, called on Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to re-open businesses, and questioned the models used by Health Director Dr. Amy Acton to continue her shelter-at-home order during the pandemic. (AP Photo/Andrew Welsh-Huggins)

A protest over the governor’s shutdown orders is scheduled to take place in Harrisburg on Monday. These stories will get you caught up on that effort and how it fits in nationally.

National 

• Slate: “These People Aren’t Zombies. They’re People.” (It’s a compelling interview with Columbus Dispatch photojournalist Joshua A. Bickel about an image that went viral.)

• The Associated Press: Powerful GOP allies propel Trump effort to reopen economy

• The Associated Press: Pro-Trump protesters push back on stay-at-home orders

Pennsylvania 

• Pennsylvania Capital-Star: ‘You’re putting yourselves at risk,’ Levine tells protesters planning event at the Capitol next week

• The Philadelphia Inquirer: The drive to reopen the Pa. economy is part of a national partisan battle

• PennLive: Foes of Pa.’s coronavirus shutdown vow to demonstrate at the Capitol on Monday

• York Daily Record: Protesters head to Harrisburg: ‘Protect the vulnerable. Open the economy. Champion liberty.’

Some numbers to know

• As of noon Saturday, 31,069 COVID-19 cases in Pennsylvania and 836 related deaths, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

• 1.49 million unemployment compensation claims from March 15 through Friday, according to the state Department of Labor & Industry.

• Pennsylvania ranks 4th among states for the total number of coronavirus cases, and eighth per capita, as of Saturday afternoon, according to The New York Times.