Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny County) announced last week his plans to introduce legislation to allow all state construction projects to resume operations so long as mitigation efforts are undertaken for employees.
Gov. Tom Wolf ordered the closure of all “non-life-sustaining” businesses on March 19 to slow the spread of COVID-19. Mitigation and social distancing regulations were put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) earlier in the month.
“Pennsylvania is the only state to shut down all active public and private construction sites, while issuing some selective waivers on an ad hoc basis. There is no consistency,” Turzai wrote in a cosponsor memorandum to his colleagues on March 27. “While Governors in New Jersey, California, Illinois and New York have issued shelter in place orders, they have all included exemptions for construction personnel and construction activities.”
Turzai argued that state construction operations, especially those related to highway and other critical infrastructure jobs, are vital to the transportation and safety of Commonwealth residents.
“These jobs still need to be completed in a timely manner. Stopping these projects which are of an open-air nature makes no sense,” he wrote. “Additionally, the impact to PennDOT’s capital program will be costly in the form of ‘delay claims’ that PennDOT will be contractually obligated to pay idled construction companies. These claims could reach hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Unfinished home and commercial construction sites will also become a drain on the state’s construction industry, Turzai wrote.
“Halting home building sites and commercial construction sites has resulted in homes and other structures sitting half-finished and, as a result, poses risks to public health and safety that must be immediately addressed,” he wrote. “Leaving partially built homes and other construction sites exposed to the elements will compromise the integrity of building materials and add additional financial loss.”
Turzai also noted that the employment impact of the order could devastate thousands of Pennsylvania households. As of last week, the state Department of Labor and Industry reported that nearly 700,000 Pennsylvania residents have applied for unemployment benefits in the past two weeks, he wrote.
“Construction executives working with PennDOT and Turnpike officials can manage work while keeping virus disease control at the utmost forefront of the plan,” Turzai wrote.
Turzai will introduce the legislation as House Bill 2400 as the House reconvenes this week.