Recently we’ve heard a lot of politicians ignore and silence small businesses, not acknowledging that the coronavirus is both a health and financial crisis for our commonwealth and nation. Many small businesses are in jeopardy of being ruined due to being closed with no revenue coming in. If they close, that affects the lives of all of the employees who depend on the owner for their paychecks.

Western Pennsylvania isn’t nearly as hard hit as the Philadelphia area; many of our small businesses could easily open up while taking the necessary precautions. Small businesses were effectively shut down overnight over six weeks ago with the promise of “help is on the way.” Most of us are still waiting for that help to come from the government.

State Sen. James Brewster, D-McKeesport, and state Rep. Brandon Markosek, D-Monroeville, had an opportunity to support the small businesses in their district by voting for Senate Bill 613 that would have allowed Pennsylvania to align with federal and CDC guidelines and permit some industries to begin the process of slowly reopening, just as California and New York have already done. Their vote against small businesses in this time when small businesses and all of their employees need help is out of touch with the working class of this district and an insult to all of his constituents.

When the bill hit Gov. Tom Wolf’s desk, he proceeded to poke all of us in the eye. All three politicians chose their Democratic Party donors in Philadelphia over all of us when we needed them the most.

Les Neilly

Monroeville

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