Coronavirus Pennsylvania: Business Owner Fearful Of Losing State-Required Certificates, Insurance If He Defies Gov. Wolf's Reopening Plan
DELAWARE COUNTY, Pa. (CBS) -- Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf threatened to pull funding from counties that defy his shutdown plan and reopen early. A number of Republicans and business owners are putting pressure on the governor to ease restrictions.
"When we all first closed our business we were told two weeks, 30 days, 45 days. Now, we are going into eight weeks," Dave Magrogan said.
Magrogan is the founder of several well-known restaurants across Pennsylvania and South Jersey, including Harvest Seasonal Grill.
"DAs and sheriffs, they have all started to stand up because the governor won't listen," he said.
A growing list of counties and lawmakers have indicated their intention to lift stay-at-home orders and allow businesses deemed nonessential to reopen, flying in the face of the mandates still in place under Gov. Wolf.
"By opening before the evidence suggests you should, you are taking undue risks with the safety of your customers. That's not only morally wrong, it's also really bad business," Wolf said on Monday.
Berks County District Attorney John Adams is among those vowing not to enforce the governor's orders, stating in part, "this office will not prosecute any criminal citations for alleged violations of the above-referenced orders and regulations."
Even the president weighed in on Twitter, writing, "The great people of Pennsylvania want their freedom now, and they are fully aware of what that entails."
"There is no question as to who is right or wrong in this instance. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court said the governor is acting within his emergency authority," civil rights attorney Devon M. Jacob said. "To have government officials say, 'You know what, forget it. We are not going to respect the legislature, we are not going to respect the laws, we are not going to respect the courts,' and to simply say, 'We are going to do what we want to do,' is dangerous."
A danger that businesses that decide to unlawfully reopen face is risking the loss of state-required certificates and insurance coverage.
"Insurance does not cover things that happen to businesses breaking the law," Wolf said.
He also says that he supports the business owners opening up early, but added that he won't be one of them.
"At the end of the day, if tomorrow I said I wanted to open my restaurant, the governor would revoke my liquor license and that license is a privilege," he said.
