The Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association (PMA) and the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry (PA Chamber) on Monday expressed disappointment with Gov. Tom Wolf’s veto of a proposed bill that includes temporary protections against unwarranted COVID-19 related lawsuits.
“Businesses across the Commonwealth struggling to simply survive were dealt yet another blow today as Gov. Wolf vetoed critical liability protections and instead backed opportunistic trial lawyers anxious to profit from this crisis,” PA Chamber President and Chief Executive Officer Gene Barr said on Monday.
“As we collectively work to fight COVID-19 and try to sustain our economy, we are disappointed the governor chose to stand with those attempting to profit off the pandemic over what’s in the best interests of the state’s economic recovery and public health,” said Barr.
Specifically, the governor on Nov. 30 refused to sign into law House Bill (HB) 1737, which received approval last month from the Pennsylvania General Assembly and includes expanded liability protections for employers and organizations impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, among other provisions.
“Pennsylvania’s manufacturers are deeply disappointed that Gov. Wolf has prioritized the litigation industry above everyone who will ultimately fight and win the battle against COVID-19 in the Commonwealth,” said PMA President and CEO David Taylor. “This bill was a targeted, temporary and necessary response to the threat of frivolous lawsuits by Pennsylvania’s litigation industry, which views the COVID-19 pandemic as a business opportunity.”
Taylor said HB 1737 would have protected both the manufacturers that have retooled their operations to meet the state’s need for personal protective equipment (PPE) and frontline medical professionals caring for COVID-19 patients.
“Pennsylvania’s small businesses, hospitals, nursing homes, schools, childcare centers, universities, colleges, farms, and local governments that are following Wolf’s own government health guidelines deserve these needed protections,” said Taylor. “Throughout this pandemic, the private sector has done what it does best — respond, innovate and overcome — even amidst the ever-shifting mandates, guidances and policies of the Wolf administration.”
HB 1737 also would not have provided complete immunity for anyone, added Taylor, who said that “people and entities covered by this legislation would still have been liable for any intentionally wrongful acts and acts considered legally reckless.”
“This threat is not hypothetical,” Barr added in a separate statement. “Pennsylvania employers are already being targeted with unwarranted lawsuits — a number which is expected to increase in the months and years ahead given the large sums of advertising the trial bar is dedicating to the effort, along with the fact that there is a two-year window to file such suits.”
By withholding his signature from HB 1737, Gov. Wolf said that COVID-19 immunity protections should be paired with worker protections, including paid sick leave for employees. “Providing immunity for a business that does not rigorously comply with public health orders does not ensure the safety of the public, its employees and is not in the public interest,” according to Wolf’s decision.
The governor also pointed out that his May 6 executive order already provides protection against liability for emergency and disaster services activities taken by healthcare practitioners, and HB 1737 would significantly expand such protections by limiting liability to various entities, including manufacturers, distributors, labelers, and users of PPE, business services and covered providers.
“Shielding entities from liability in such a broad fashion as provided under this bill invites the potential for carelessness and a disregard for public safety,” Wolf wrote in his decision.
PA Chamber’s Barr took issue with that rationale, saying that while the governor’s recent executive order might mention liability protections, “the language falls short of what is needed and many businesses and organizations are still trying to determine exactly what protections the order does afford.”
In fact, added Barr, the order has left many employers vulnerable, including the companies working to produce critical vaccines. “House Bill 1737 was not revolutionary,” Barr said. “The governor’s description of the bill is completely off the mark.”
Nationwide, nearly 30 other states have implemented some form of either product or exposure liability protections, said Barr, noting that such types of protections are broadly supported and a top priority for small businesses, non-profits, educational and healthcare institutions.
In fact, nearly 80 Pennsylvania associations sent a Nov. 24 letter to Gov. Wolf in support of him signing HB 1737 into law, including the Pennsylvania chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association, the Pennsylvania Bankers Association, and myriad organizations representing manufacturers, contractors, brewers, independent colleges and universities, broadband cable, healthcare, realtors, builders, insurance, school boards, retailers, amusement parks, the bus and skiing sectors, hospitality, and community bankers, among others.
“This veto is the latest example of the public good being sacrificed on the altar of politics to protect Tom Wolf’s high-level campaign donors in the Philadelphia-based lawsuit industry,” PMA’s Taylor said.