House Democratic leaders issued the following statement on the House Republican decision to end the COVID-19 disaster declaration and continue playing political games with the health and wellbeing of Pennsylvanians:

“Today, House Republicans again declared the COVID-19 pandemic over and immediately ended the protections and waivers in the disaster declaration that have helped so many Pennsylvanians access the services they need. Republicans choose to throw Pennsylvanians out of their homes and apartments, take food away from needy children, shut off utilities to thousands of families, remove the national guard from long-term care facilities, and send away doctors and nurses who have come out of retirement to help us battle the virus. They didn’t consider delaying ending the declaration or even ending it in stages to make sure doing so was done in a way that protected the people.

“These actions are morally bankrupt and do nothing to help our state recover.

“We urge the majority party to put politics aside and take action to help our struggling communities. While we see plenty of partisan bickering and culture warfare being waged on the House floor from across the aisle, we have yet to see a plan to help our state with the $7 billion in American Rescue Plan funding. That’s what our state needs to recover and rebuild a stronger future.

“Pennsylvanians are sick and tired of the political games. The state is open. We’re leading the nation in vaccinations. What we need are actual ideas and plans to propel our state forward, and until Republicans decide to put people first, it appears we’re stuck with more actions that do nothing to help our state.”