Pennsylvania Lawmaker Files Complaint Alleging Unsafe Working Conditions

By Christen Smith / The Center Square
HARRISBURG, PA – A Pennsylvania legislator filed a complaint with the state Department of Health over what she calls unsafe working conditions in the General Assembly.

Philadelphia Democrat Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler said her colleagues’ refusal to wear masks or socially distance on the House floor or in committee meetings endangers everyone – especially since lawmakers travel back to their communities after attending session.

“The protections we need, such as wearing a face mask and social distancing, are often not difficult to do,” she said Friday.

Fiedler made it clear the resistance comes from Republican legislators. Minority Leader Frank Dermody, D-Allegheny, sponsored a resolution in May mandating masks on the House floor, but GOP leaders refuse to vote on it, she said.

“Hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians across the commonwealth already observe these standards in their own workplaces and have been doing so for months,” Fiedler said. “Because the House has failed to protect its employees in the same fashion – despite urging from members, staff, and leadership – it became necessary to file a Department of Health complaint.”

Mike Straub, spokesperson for House Speaker Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster, said the chamber took some immediate steps last spring to implement social distancing, including a rule change that allowed remote voting so that no member has to be present in the chamber if they felt uncomfortable doing so.

The House floor, committee rooms, staff spaces and “any shared spaces” are sanitized regularly. The existing COVID-19 mitigation efforts were established by the Bipartisan Management Committee, which could be the more appropriate place to address changes, Straub added. He said members, as elected officials, have a constitutional right to be on the floor and can’t be mandated to wear masks in the same way an employee can.

Fiedler’s complaint follows a record breaking week for newly diagnosed COVID-19 cases, which peaked at more than 7,100 on Thursday of last week. Nearly 3,000 people are hospitalized for the virus with some 659 receiving treatment in the intensive care unit.

Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine told residents last week to wear masks in all settings, even if socially distanced, and avoid traveling. She said some models show the state will run out of ICU beds next month, as case counts rise sharply.