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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | February 8, 2024 07:48 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Russ Diamond |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | COVID-19 Liquor License Amnesty |
| In the near future I will be introducing legislation to provide critical relief for liquor licensees who were disciplined by the Wolf Administration during the COVID-19 pandemic. My legislation will prevent the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) from revoking or suspending any liquor license for failure to comply with COVID-19 protocols set forth by the Governor and the Secretary of Health during the disaster emergency related to COVID that began on March 6, 2020. Additionally, the legislation will require the PLCB remove any disciplinary action given to a licensee during COVID-19 for failure to comply with COVID-19 protocols, such as warning letters, fines and other actions that may appear on a licensee’s disciplinary history. With the COVID-19 pandemic behind us, I believe it is unconscionable for the PLCB to continue to punish licensees who were faced with an impossible choice between going out of business or fighting for survival. These establishments suffered enough during the pandemic, and it is time for the PLCB to cease their callous treatment of our licensee community. As a matter of perspective, these disciplinary actions were taken under an indefinite disaster emergency system that no longer exists in Pennsylvania. The people of this Commonwealth were so outraged by administrative overreach during this period that they saw fit to change our state constitution, making Pennsylvania the only state in the nation to reduce its governor’s emergency powers via constitutional change. Our collective experience during the COVID-19 disaster emergency created a lot of bad blood and set Pennsylvanians against one another when their opinions on the governmental response to COVID-19 differed. The General Assembly should embrace the People’s rejection of administrative overreach at the ballot box, and take steps to heal this enduring and gaping wound on our body politic by granting administrative amnesty to those who were merely attempting to pay their bills and feed their families during one of the most difficult periods of the modern era. My legislation is a step in that direction, and I encourage you to stand up for our liquor licensees by joining me as a cosponsor. |
Introduced as HB2133
Memo Updated: February 8, 2024 07:49 AM