Elected officials, businesses in 4 Pa. counties sue to end coronavirus shutdown

Citing growing frustration with emergency orders that closed businesses and halted political campaigns, three state lawmakers and U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Butler, Thursday joined a group of local business owners and four southwestern counties in a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Gov. Tom Wolf’s orders.

County commissioners from Butler, Fayette, Greene and Washington counties claim they have suffered a loss of tax revenue due to the shutdown.

Their complaint is the most recent suit challenging Wolf’s authority. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court previously ruled for Wolf. And on Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a similar action from eastern Pennsylvania.

Although he is not a party to the lawsuit, Greene County District Attorney David J. Russo announced that he will not prosecute any businesses that reopen in the rural county on the West Virginia border where 27 people have tested positive for covid-19.

“I cannot in good conscience stand by and watch our economy and the small businesses in my community perish,” Russo said. “If large conglomerate shopping centers, gas stations and businesses deemed essential such as beer distributors can safely operate with thousands of customers entering their stores each day, then there is no reason the small business owner should not be allowed to operate under the same guidelines.”

Businesses that joined in the four-county lawsuit, which names Wolf and state Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine, included several hair salons, two drive-in theaters, a race horse trainer and a farm. The business owners say they have suffered financial hardships and a loss of livelihood and property due to the shutdown.

The lawsuit also charges that the shutdown halted “constitutionally protected” activities including campaign rallies and door-to-door campaigning for Kelly and Republican state Reps. Marcie Mustello, Daryl Metcalfe and Tim Bonner.

Wolf, a Democrat, has angered the Republican-controlled Legislature as well as residents in many communities with his insistence the state follow a data-driven region-by-region reopening using CDC guidance.

It has sparked countless complaints from Southwestern Pennsylvania, where 10 counties— including Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Cambria, Fayette, Indiana, Somerset, Washington and Westmoreland — are awaiting authorization to move into Wolf’s yellow zone designation.

Last week, the governor authorized 24 counties in two regions in Northwestern and Northcentral Pennsylvania to begin a limited reopening Friday.

He is expected to announce whether any other regions may begin reopening next week at his daily press briefing Friday afternoon.

Officials in Westmoreland and Allegheny counties have said they are optimistic that Wolf will allow them to move into the yellow zone reopening phase as early as next week.

Westmoreland County Commission Chair Sean Kertes said he and his colleagues were weighing whether to join the new four-county suit when he learned it had been filed.

“We were waiting to see what occurs Friday,” he said.