Wolf should release funds to errant county

Earlier this month, Gov. Tom Wolf confirmed he would withhold nearly $13 million in federal CARES Act funding from Lebanon County “after its commissioners moved it to the ‘yellow’ phase prior to the governor’s approval,” LNP ‘ LancasterOnline’s Gillian Mc

Partisan squabbles and a lawsuit have stolen center stage in the midst of an ongoing health crisis.

In response, Lebanon County sued Wolf, “claiming the governor overstepped his authority,” Spotlight PA’s Cynthia Fernandez reported. (Spotlight PA is a nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer; its partners include LNP Media Group.)

Once again, partisan squabbles and a lawsuit have stolen center stage in the midst of an ongoing health crisis that has claimed the lives of more than 7,100 Pennsylvanians.

As we have noted often — and wearily — the Wolf administration and the Republican-controlled state Legislature must find meaningful ways to work together in response to COVID-19. It’s imperative, and in the vital interest of all Pennsylvanians, that this chasm be bridged.

“Imagine all the ways, if the two sides actually had ongoing discussions through this crisis with the governor, that compromises might have been reached,” we wrote here Wednesday. “None of that happened, however, and we’re left wondering why.”

And we’re left with another lawsuit. Another headache-inducing legal challenge to the Wolf administration’s emergency powers.

Here’s how we arrived at this one: In May, the Lebanon County commissioners voted 2-1 to lift their county’s state-mandated restrictions without the Wolf administration’s permission. The governor had warned that “such a decision could jeopardize a county’s share of federal discretionary dollars for relief efforts,” Spotlight PA’s Fernandez wrote.

Following through, Wolf did not release the $12.8 million that the General Assembly appropriated to Lebanon County as part of the federal coronavirus response.

Lyndsay Kensinger, a spokesperson for Wolf, told Spotlight PA that Wolf’s decision is empowered by the state’s Emergency Management Services Code.

Wolf, more to the point, said it was simply a case of actions having consequences.

“Don’t come say you want something from the state when you haven’t followed the rules,” the governor said. “That was the commissioners that the majority of people elected in Lebanon County. They represent them. I think maybe I’d think twice about reelecting them.”

We think it’s reasonable — perhaps even necessary in some instances — that a defiance of emergency orders should have consequences. The two Lebanon County commissioners who voted to partially reopen the county without permission played fast and loose with the health of their constituents.

But we also believe Wolf should find another way to make this point. These consequences are too potentially disastrous for the 140,000plus residents of Lebanon County, many of whom surely did not agree with the two commissioners. People there need the $12.8 million to help them through this still-unfolding emergency.

Lebanon County Commissioner Jo Ellen Litz, who voted against the county’s unilateral move to the yellow phase in May, told ABC 27 that Wolf’s action unfairly punishes small businesses and nonprofits.

“I’d rather not see every man, woman, and child in our community of over 140,000 punished for a vote by two people who later tried to make amends,” she said in an email to ABC 27.

Meanwhile, Lancaster County, which also defied the Wolf administration’s emergency orders with an early move to the yellow phase in May, is fortunate its own federal funding wasn’t jeopardized and that it doesn’t find itself in the same situation as its northern neighbor.