State Sen. Jim Brewster (D-45th District) announced his “COVID-19 Health and Business Recovery Plan” Friday aimed at ensuring workers, customers, and clients are protected and giving businesses a responsible schedule to resume operations in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
“In any plan to reopen business once the pandemic is further controlled, there must be a reasonable schedule to bring businesses online — provided workers, customers and clients are protected,” Brewster said. “In my [plan] we are looking at re-engaging business operations that generally can meet extreme distancing and personal protection guidelines first, then mix in other businesses over a short time frame.”
Brewster said he developed his plan after the Senate passed legislation calling for the reopening of businesses across the state that Gov. Tom Wolf pledged to veto. He said that there is a middle ground between providing health security for individuals while also providing a defined schedule for businesses to reopen under appropriate health guidelines.
“Partisanship has no place in this effort to move forward with protecting our workers and reopening business,” Brewster said. “The recovery schedule will be dictated by health care experts and the effort to ensure that testing is readily available and personal protection equipment is widely disbursed for workers.”
Under Brewster’s plan, the state would engage in at least two more phases in the reopening schedule in addition to the first phase of waivers granted by the state for some businesses. Construction, car dealerships, real estate, recreation, and outdoor-focused operations would be granted waivers in Phase II and resume operations on May 11. Additionally, state wine and spirit shops and other small retailers that can regulate the flow of customers while providing necessary protections for employees could begin operating under Phase II.
“We need to move methodically and evaluate each step along the way to ensure that workers, customers and clients are protected because the numbers could change, and we could experience a spike in cases,” Brewster said.
The stimulus plan specifically includes unemployment compensation boosters to provide direct payments to individuals who lost their jobs in the pandemic; short-term bridge grants to get businesses running as soon as possible, covering near-term expenses; and special tax provisions to help small businesses deal with long-term financial impacts. The plan would also accelerate infrastructure improvement projects and push for the creation of a “pandemic recovery czar” – a single contact point in state government to coordinate the response and distribution of funding explicitly related to the COVID-19 crisis.