Pennsylvania lawmakers denied access to PPE storage facility over confidentiality concerns

(The Center Square) – Three Pennsylvania lawmakers said Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration barred their access to a state-owned facility housing a stockpile of personal protective equipment after they refused to sign nondisclosure agreements.

Reps. Seth Grove, R-York; Karen Boback, R-Dallas; and Dan Moul, R-Gettysburg, at the invitation of the governor, arrived at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg on Wednesday for a personal tour of the PPE supply housed inside.

But the doors were locked and no one from Wolf’s administration was in sight. Moul, who chairs the House Agriculture Committee, said he anticipated the situation after he and the others refused the governor’s “unreasonable demands” before entering.

“It’s very obvious that the doors are intentionally locked,” he told a group of reporters gathered for event. “When I waved to the security guards [inside] and knocked on the door, they ignored me. I’m sure, due to the governor’s orders, the building is locked down today and they are not going to let us in.”

Grove, who chairs the House State Government Committee, called the situation “shameful” and said it’s yet another example of why constitutional amendments limiting the governor’s emergency powers are necessary.

“We have a constitutional duty as a legislative branch to provide legislative oversight on executive agencies,” he said. “If we were to see something in here and not report it, we would not be doing our jobs.”

Boback, chair of the Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee, said she hoped the tour may clear up questions she has about the administration’s decision to keep the entire stockpile in one location instead of using the space and security available at nearby Fort Indiantown Gap.

“I have questions and I want answers,” she said. “If it’s that important, it’s surveilled there [at the Gap] constantly.”

The lawmakers say they worry about storing the PPE in one location, where fire or flood or theft could leave the state without any supply. Grove said a state statute requires the administration to separate the stockpiles.

It’s also unclear what it’s costing the state to use the Farm Show for this purpose and whether private storage could prove cheaper and safer.

“Again, a lot more questions than we have answers,” Grove said. “We are more than willing to work through this with the administration, but every step of the way we are locked out.”

Moul said the lawmakers also heard from two separate sources that two truckloads of nonmedical grade PPE had been burned at the city’s incinerator in the last few weeks. He said he agreed to keep the sources anonymous to protect their jobs.

“That is one of the reasons we wanted to see what is in this building,” he said. “Why not just come clean? What else are they hiding? This building is owned by the taxpayers and the product in this building was paid for by taxpayers. They have a right to know what this administration is doing.”

The Center Square reached out to the Wolf administration for comment, but did not receive an immediate response.

Other reports that administration officials thought the tour was scheduled for 3 p.m. – instead of 9 a.m. as agreed to the lawmakers – are a “blatant lie,” Moul said.

“What occurred here today is a perfect example of why we, as a Legislature, have put on the May 18 ballot, questions to limit the governor’s emergency declarations to no more than 21 days without legislative approval,” he said. “No man should have the power to shut out the taxpayers of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”

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