Category Archives: Republican

(NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)

After lying low for several election cycles, influential Republican super PAC American Crossroads is jumping into the 2020 presidential election to back President Donald Trump.

American Crossroads recently reported spending nearly $367,000 to support Trump in a 13-state text messaging campaign. The group placed its biggest bet of more than $89,000 in Florida, where presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden is polling slightly ahead of Trump.

The super PACs early investment indicates that Trumps reelection bid may find support from outside groups that didnt back his 2016 run. American Crossroads spent $91 million to support Mitt Romney and oppose President Barack Obama in 2012. But it spent just $135,000 to oppose Hillary Clinton in 2016 and spent nothing to support Trump.

Masterminded by former White House strategist Karl Rove, American Crossroads shares its staff and offices with One Nation, a dark money nonprofit that supports Senate Republicans. One Nation spent more than $2.4 million on digital ads since June 2018 when Google and Facebook started disclosing online advertising data, according to OpenSecrets analysis of digital ad data.

Senate Leadership Fund, the super PAC affiliated with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), is also part of the hub of conservative groups. Trump headlined a big-dollar fundraiser for the Senate Leadership Fund in November 2019. The super PAC has $52 million in the bank as party-tied groups prepare for expensive congressional election battles in November.

A lot has happened between American Crossroads declining to support Trump in the 2016 presidential race and the super PAC throwing its support behind him in the 2020 election. American Crossroads support of Trumps reelection comes three years after Trumps White House hiring of Mike Dubke, the co-founder of Crossroads Media LLC and Black Rock Group, American Crossroads and Senate Leadership Funds longtime vendors. Dubke served as Trumps communications director for 103 days in 2017 before making a full spin in the revolving door and returning to Black Rock, which continues to work for both super PACs in the 2020 election.

America First Action is the only super PAC that has Trumps stamp of approval to support his reelection campaign. The Trump campaign has disavowed many other super PACs that raise and spend political cash in his name. Political campaigns and outside groups are supposed to be independent of one another, but they often exploit loopholes to legally coordinate their efforts.

For its recent text messaging blitz, American Crossroads used Advantage Direct Communications, a firm specializing in voter contact and data services. The firms operation, which also includes Advantage Inc., had been a longtime vendor of the Republican National Committee and state Republican Party committees.

Trumps official super PAC, America First Action, also paid Advantage for polling expenses in 2018. The RNC paid Advantage for party-coordinated expenses promoting Trump in 2016 and another $639,000 for data services, phone services and voter registration during the 2020 election cycle. Trumps 2016 campaign paid Advantage Inc. for telemarketing services but neither the campaign nor its joint fundraising committees have reported any transactions with Advantage during the 2020 election cycle.

Voters who apply to use Advantages app through some state Republican party websites are informed that a Trump Victory Team Member will be in touch about the application.

Advantages app is used to facilitate so-called targeted multi-touch voter journeys by collecting data while targeting potential voters with calls, texts, emails and digital ads helping them to update their voter registration then urging them to support a specific candidate.

As traditional door-knocking efforts grind to a halt in light of COVID-19 lockdowns, Advantage revamped its menu of options for voter contact services tailored to capitalize on the coronavirus pandemic. A memo disseminated by Advantage says its team is testing best practices for peer-to-peer texts and phone banking to ensure there is no pandemic backlash, concluding that aggressive political messages and coronavirus themes are working.

American Crossroads did not make independent expenditures in the 2018 midterm cycle, but it continued to pay staff that also work for the Senate Leadership Fund and One Nation. The super PAC has only taken in a handful of contributions this cycle totaling $186,000 and reported having roughly $527,000 in the bank through March.

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Influential Republican super PAC makes its return to boost Trump - Center for Responsive Politics

How can the Republican Party be the self-proclaimed protector of the unborn while at the same time be advocating for a return-to-work policy during the COVID-19 pandemic that risks lives already being lived?

Gross hypocrisy? Not really. What then?

For almost my entire life, the Republican Party has perpetrated a scheme as old as civilization itself: divide and conquer, or, divide and rule if you prefer the Latin version (divide et impera).

The Republican Partys Southern strategy, utilized by both the Goldwater and Nixon presidential campaigns, was based on appealing to aggrieved white Southerners. In 1980, Ronald Reagan delivered a states rights speech at a fairgrounds only a few miles from Philadelphia, Miss., a town associated with the gruesome murders of three civil rights activists in 1964.

With respect to George H.W. Bushs presidential campaign in 1988, recall the infamous Willie Horton ads, a low point for dog-whistle politics. In 2004, political observers accused George W. Bush of using coded language to imply that Supreme Court decisionsi.e., Roe v. Wadecould be reversed.

Of course, W also mired us in the Iraq War, with estimates for Iraqi deaths ranging from 110,000 to more than a million. Does anyone feel safer today?

And now, our current divider-in-chief is cheering on us-against-them armed protestswhere the them are often health care workers pleading for common sense for the common good.

President Trump stands before us like a crop of wheat ready for harvest. To Republican strategists, past and present, representing an immoral minority, I say, Reap what youve sown.

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Letter: Not all lives matter to the Republican Party | INFORUM - INFORUM

A freeze watch is in place Friday evening for Marshalltown and much of Eastern Iowa.

The watch is coming along with below freezing temperatures. The low temperature Friday night is predicted to be 30 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

Its sort of late in the season for a freeze, said Justin Glison, state climatologist. Marshalltown has actually had a 32 degree or less reading out to May 29 in 1947.

The last time Marshalltown had a recorded temperature on or below 29 degrees was in 1911.

Its not normal behavior, but its not extreme, Glison said.

The news is worse the further east with possible snow storms predicted in the Northeastern United States and New England.

Were just seeing a dip in the jet stream further south than normal, Glison said. Its allowing colder air to come to us.

The freezing temperatures will be prefaced by heavy rainfall on Thursday.

Temperatures will rise during the 50 and 60 degree days, albeit with rain and thunderstorms predicted this weekend, but the night temperatures will have a cold bite to them.

Sensitive plants could be affected by a potential freeze and should be covered.

Were not really concerned with stuff thats been planted already, Glison said. We might get some impacts on alfalfa that have already emerged and are growing.

Central Iowa will be around the freezing mark, depending on cloud cover.

Cloud cover and wind will keep the temperature from going below freezing, Glison said. If were under a clear sky we could get whats called radiational cooling and get cooler temperatures.

Usually when theres colder temperatures this late in the year its followed by warm weather, he said.

You always see a rebound, Glison said. Once we get through it well get a warm up.

Contact Thomas Nelson at tnelson@timesrepublican.com

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Abnormally cold weather coming | News, Sports, Jobs - Marshalltown Times Republican

WASHINGTON Breaking with the leader of his own party, Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., called Thursday for tens of millions of diagnostic coronavirus tests to be administered to Americans before the country can begin to return to normal.

Those comments came a day after President Trump downplayed diagnostic testing as part of its post-pandemic reopening. By doing all of this testing, we make ourselves look bad, Trump said on Wednesday.

It was not clear if Alexander would want those millions of tests to be deployed daily or weekly, though the latter seemed to be the case.Either would be a drastic improvement over the current state of affairs. The U.S. currently administers about 200,000 tests per day, an insignificant number in a nation of 328 million.

But it is impossible to administer tests that do not exist. Those tens of millions of tests he deemed necessary, Alexander acknowledged, amount to many more than our current technologies can produce.

A former governor of Tennessee, Alexander appeared to break with Republican governors in Texas, Florida and Georgia who have begun to open up their states without having tested statistically significant portions of their populations.

All the roads back to work, and back to school, lead through testing, Alexander, the Senate Health Committee chairman, said during a hearing of the committee that was intended to promote the development of new testing technologies.

So far, 7,759,771 tests for the coronavirus have been conducted across the United States, according to the COVID Tracking Project, a public data clearinghouse. But because multiple tests are administered to those infected with the virus, the number of people who have been tested is far lower than that.

About 75,000 Americans have died from complications related to COVID-19, the lung disease caused by the coronavirus.

Although a reliable conservative, Alexander has never been a close ally of the president, and his planned retirement at years end leaves him free to speak without fearing the consequences of a presidential tweet.

Story continues

We will need millions more tests than we are producing today, Alexander asserted at one point. Members of his staff did not respond to a request for details, but the ambitious proposal is not entirely unprecedented. A recent Harvard study said that to reopen safely, the United States needs to test 20 million people per day. That would be 14 times greater than what Alexander appeared to be advocating, which in itself would be a major increase over current testing capacity.

His remarks pushing for a significant increase in the nations testing capacity came during a hearing called Shark Tank: New Tests for COVID-19. The reference is to Shark Tank, a popular television program in which entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to a panel of skeptical celebrity investors.

A similar shark tank project is now underway in the federal government for coronavirus testing. Called the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics initiative, or RADx, it invites private companies to submit their own ideas for new coronavirus tests. Dr. Francis Collins, who directs the National Institutes of Health, testified before Alexanders panel that the initial call for submissions last month resulted in 1,087 proposals filed with the NIH.

Those companies seek to receive some of the $1.5 billion allocated for this project from federal coronavirus relief funds. The idea was initially proposed by Alexander and Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo. If theres a bold idea out there that will work, we need to make sure the funding is available to get it approved and in the hands of health-care providers quickly, they wrote.

Speaking on Thursday, Alexander compared the testing initiative to the Manhattan Project, which resulted in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II. One of the key facilities in that effort was based in Alexanders home state, at Oak Ridge, Tenn. (The Manhattan Project amounted to an investment of what would today be more than $20 billion.)

Alexander called RADx one of the most ambitious scientific enterprises in recent memory. It is being managed by NIH and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, whose director, Dr. Rick Bright, was recently demoted for refusing to endorse a dubious coronavirus treatment that had been touted by Trump and some of his supporters in the conservative media.

Brights replacement, Dr. Gary Disbrow, was present at Thursdays hearing, but refused to answer questions related to Brights dismissal posed by Sen. Patty Murray of Washington state and Christopher Murphy of Connecticut, both of whom are Democrats.

Disbrow did want to talk about the kinds of tests RADx might yield, including ones that can detect the virus in saliva, thus obviating the need for invasive nasal swabs. Trump underwent such a test in March and has complained about the procedure. Up your nose and then we hang a right, and it goes down here, the president said of that procedure. And then well wiggle it around here, under your eye.

Disbrow and Collins envisioned quick, easy-to-administer tests, with results available on smartphones. It was not clear whether such coronavirus tests had already been proposed through the RADx shark tank process.

Trumps skepticism about testing is shared by some members of the White House coronavirus task force, including the very official placed in charge of the testing issue. There is absolutely no way on earth, on this planet or any other planet, that we can do 20 million tests a day, or even 5 million tests a day, that official, Rear Adm. Brett Giroir, said late last month.

That was one of many confusing and contradictory assertions made by administration officials since the pandemic arrived in the United States about four months ago. Though they have routinely promised to drastically increase the number of people tested, those promises have been frustrated by logistical challenges the White House has been incapable of resolving.

Murphy, a progressive, has long criticized the Trump administration for its dilatory coronavirus response. And though he seemed to welcome the RADx initiative, he was disturbed by its timing. If we had a president who truly prioritized testing, this effort would have been launched the minute that we heard about the prospect for coronavirus coming to the United States, Murphy said.

Trump allegedly received that first warning on Jan. 3.

Cover thumbnail photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

_____

Click here for the latest coronavirus news and updates. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please refer to the CDCs and WHOs resource guides.

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Republican breaks with Trump, calls for 'tens of millions' of coronavirus tests - Yahoo Parenting

NORTH STONINGTON Brett Mastroianni has been elected to serve a fourth term as chairman of the North Stonington Republican Town Committee.

Mastroinni was reelected unanimously by members of the committee this week during a special meeting, which was held through a conference call to allow for members of the committee to continue to practice social distancing. Members also voted to elect Salvatore Cherenzia IV as vice chairman and Lisa Mazzella was elected to serve in a dual post as both secretary and treasurer for the committee.

Its an honor to be re-elected chair of the Republican Town Committee and I look forward to continuing the growth and diversity that we have seen over the last few years," Mastroianni said "We also plan to continue our Republican outreach efforts through community events and fundraisers.

The terms are effective immediately and will run through spring 2022, the committee said in a press release.

Jason Vallee

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Mastroianni elected to 4th term as chairman of North Stonington Republican Town Committee - The Westerly Sun

But economists from a broad range of ideological backgrounds are encouraging Congress to keep spending to combat catastrophic job losses and say now is not the time to focus on the deficit. They emphasize that the federal government can borrow at near-zero interest rates, as investors seek the safety of U.S. bonds and the Federal Reserve buys up tens of billions of dollars worth of Treasury securities each week.

GOP concerns over the deficit will play a central role in negotiations as lawmakers begin working on the next emergency spending bill and Democrats push for more funds for state and local governments.

Meanwhile, because so much normal economic activity has evaporated because of safety fears and stay-at-home orders, the threat of a crippling drop in prices is perhaps more of a concern than inflation, many economists say.

Im a fiscal hawk from way back, and all of my heebie-jeebies are going off when I see these numbers, said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a Republican who used to head the Congressional Budget Office and is president of American Action Forum. But then I look at the scale of the problem, and I think, yeah, thats that. Gotta do it.

Senior Republicans have signaled that they are willing to spend far more money to help the neediest Americans, especially as more than 26 million Americans have filed for unemployment claims in recent weeks. But it's clear that much of the GOP's patience is diminishing as the price tag for the tranches of coronavirus aid amounts to trillions. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is insisting that any future package needs to have more guardrails, including protections for health care workers, businesses and employers from lawsuits.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. | Patrick Semansky/AP Photo

I would question the credibility of any economist who thought that borrowing $2.8 trillion was a great idea except in a pandemic, McConnell said in an interview. If we borrow any more it will include reforms.

Republicans say they also want to see how the money Congress has already approved is playing out before deciding on where to allocate more resources to combating the virus and shoring up the economy.

Democrats have pounced on the GOPs growing unease over the deficit, which they say has surfaced only after Republicans secured hundreds of billions for businesses including some with massive cash flows and savings accounts.

When we talk about tax cuts and when we talk about loopholes for real estate developers, it's utmost urgency, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) told reporters in the Capitol last week. But when we talk about rent and mortgage relief for working families, now we're worried about the deficit.

Among the sticking points for the next phase of negotiations is a push from Senate Democrats for money directed toward state and local governments facing a steep drop in revenue as they attempt to battle the virus. McConnell suggested this week he is open to aid for local governments as long as his conditions are met.

I dont think you can indefinitely kind of extend what weve done over the last couple months, said Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) when asked about the next phase. That has to be looked at in a very hard fashion to see how we can do it in a more affordable and a smarter way.

The Republican Study Committees Budget and Spending Task Force also put out a blueprint this week to flatten the debt curve. The proposal calls for Congress to offset the effect of future coronavirus packages on the debt by cutting and capping spending.

Some experts say interest payments could eat up an unsustainably high portion of the federal budget down the road, particularly if the economy has a strong recovery that leads rates to rise. Similarly, as the economy improves, high levels of government spending could feed aggressive price increases.

Theres a real danger that at some point were going to create serious inflation and seriously higher interest rates, Toomey said. And the problem is, we dont know when well hit that point.

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.). | Drew Angerer/Getty Images

But some economists caution that even those worries could be overblown; widespread inflation fears after the Great Recession of the late 2000s never came true, and structural economic factors have led to a steady decline in rates over the past few decades.

Interest rates could rise a fair bit from where they are now and still be lower than they were for most of the last half century, said Doug Elmendorf, a Democrat who served as CBO director until 2015 and is now dean of faculty at Harvard Kennedy School.

And inflation oil prices were briefly negative last week, he added. We are much more worried now about a deflationary spiral from weak economic activity than we are about high inflation.

Meanwhile, some progressive economists go even farther, suggesting deficits dont pose nearly as many problems as claimed by mainstream economists.

Republicans renewed worries about the national debt come after a GOP-led Congress in 2017 added more than $2 trillion to the deficit through tax cuts and increased spending, at a time when the U.S. economy was relatively healthy and interest rates were higher. Republicans argued that the tax cuts would pay for themselves by generating enough economic growth, a goal that has so far fallen short.

We shouldve been doing deficit reduction when the economy was good, said Marc Goldwein, senior policy director at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Now is not the time.

That does not mean we should waste dollars. It does not mean we should spend infinite amounts, he added. But, its a worthwhile tradeoff to have more debt today, which isnt free, to not go into a depression.

Lou Crandall, chief economist at Wrightson ICAP, a research firm specializing in U.S. government financing, also pointed out that ballooning deficits could increase pressure to roll back those tax cuts going forward and suggested that might be a motivating factor for Republicans to be cautious. This is defending the signature achievement of the Trump era, he said.

The $2 trillion CARES Act passed by Congress last month amid the pandemic will increase federal deficits by $1.8 trillion over a decade, according to the CBO. That estimate doesnt project any losses from the Feds emergency lending programs because the central bank is planning to lend largely to creditworthy businesses and municipalities.

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Economists urge Republicans to ignore the deficit - POLITICO

House Republicans are calling on Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to ease public health restrictions in counties that are less affected by the novel coronavirus, a notion the Governors Office rejected as premature.

As businesses in Georgia and other states begin to open again despite ongoing risks of contracting and spreading the virus, Republican leaders in New Mexico are for the first time urging the governor to open up areas of the state that have seen few or no cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

Four lightly populated counties have had no cases: Sierra, Hidalgo, De Baca and Mora, according to data from the state Department of Health.

House Minority Leader Jim Townsend, R-Artesia, said the governor should look at counties with few cases and follow the guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He mentioned the four counties with zero cases and a dozen with low occurrences along with southeast New Mexico as a whole as areas that should be reopened.

He urged the Governors Office to let the data guide them during a news conference Tuesday.

Townsend and the 23 other House Republicans signed a letter sent to Lujan Grisham on Tuesday, urging the governor to work with local community leaders to keep the situation from devolving into social chaos.

But the Governors Office said the data does not support opening any areas of the state right now. COVID-19 cases are ravaging San Juan, McKinley, Sandoval and Bernalillo counties. And although other areas such as Otero County or Quay County only have several cases, those numbers could still quickly rise, a Lujan Grisham spokeswoman said.

Areas with few reported COVID cases are not immune, spokeswoman Nora Meyers Sackett said. The virus does not recognize county lines. The fight against COVID-19 is the same in every part of the state, whether there are three positive cases in a certain community or 300. Three cases becomes 300 very quickly.

Sackett added state government and health officials already are making plans for when, where and in what capacity public health restrictions could begin to be lifted. The Governors Office remains in constant communication with local partners as we all navigate this public health emergency together, she said.

Republicans argue that if the governor waits, it may be too late for many businesses and smaller communities hurting from decreased demand and a public health order that shut down nonessential businesses, including most retail, to slow the spread of the virus.

If we delay much longer, this is going to have drastic effects on New Mexico and particularly in rural New Mexico, acutely, said state Rep. Greg Nibert, R-Roswell. I believe were on the precipice of a real economic collapse in the state if this goes on much longer. Our citizens are not prepared for a depression.

House Minority Whip Rod Montoya, R-Farmington, said the restrictions are spurring some county commissioners to declare an economic disaster in their communities and said he hopes to avoid anywhere in New Mexico having a Kent State situation, referring to the 1970 Ohio National Guard shootings of unarmed college Vietnam War protesters.

Im worried of a situation as has been reported where a state police officer goes to someones business and tells them, Youve got to close down or threaten arrest, as has been done, or threaten these $5,000 fines and all these folks really want to do is protect their property and their civil liberties, Montoya said. The folks that were protesting at Kent State, and the police officers that went there that day, I dont believe had any thought that what would take place would take place. But thats what happens when emotions run high.

The Republican Party of New Mexico in a statement Tuesday supported the House Republican Caucus and doubled down on the claim that the governor is trampling on peoples civil rights through intimidation during this pandemic by issuing fines for businesses violating the public health order that temporarily shuts down businesses not deemed essential.

Every New Mexican is essential when it comes to making our state run, party Chairman Steve Pearce said in a written statement. We are now in a steady free fall because the governor wont look at the fiscal and economic health thats gone to ruins. Outside states are gobbling up our local dollars while mom and pop business remain shuttered and Main Streets become ghost towns.

The governor must look at what areas can slowly open, areas where there are few and no cases of COVID-19 to start with, Pearce continued.

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Republicans clash with Governor's Office on reopening businesses - Santa Fe New Mexican

There may never be an answer to the question, Why is the Republican Party so determined to die on the Great Orange Hill? However, any serious search for an explanation has to factor in the answer, Because most of them are chickenshit motherfckers, thats why. Politico illustrates.

You may recall that, on Monday, Politico reported that, back at the beginning of April, the National Republican Senatorial Committee had circulated a memo to Republican senatorial candidates that advised them to go on the attack against China when discussing the pandemic, but not to defend the president* other than the China ban. In other words, defend the racism, but not the racist.

Looked at from the malignant perspective of modern Republican realpolitik, this advice makes perfect sense. Engage the fundamental xenophobia of the partys base without reminding them of the president* that this produced last time. If I were a Republican senator, prior to my hurling myself into the Bay of Fundy in a grand act of self-loathing, I would take this advice. However, the Trump campaign found this approach to be something up with which it would not put.

You would think that, by now, this kind of clumsy shakedown wouldnt work any more, but that would mean that the Republican Party was not being run by chickenshit motherfckers, and that would mean you were very, very wrong.

Like a cheap suit. Like a two-dollar accordion.

Were I running a Republican senatorial campaign, especially were I running one on behalf of a particularly endangered incumbent, Id tell old Justin Clark to go whistle up a fish and follow the committees original advice. But the real story here is how thoroughly the Republican Party has adopted the administration*s Piranha Brothers approach to political strategy, even unto its most distant parts. Every piece of advice carries a threat. Every bit of help implies a debt. Nice little campaign you have there. Be a shame if anything happens to it.

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Other Republicans Fold to Trump Every Time Because Most of Them Are Chickensh*t - Esquire

Senate Republicans plan to vote Thursday on issuing subpoenas to Gov. Tom Wolfs administration to learn more about business closures prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Senate Republicans, who hold the majority in the chamber, said they have been frustrated what they view as a lack of transparency from the Democratic governor. GOP lawmakers have been pressing for answers from the Wolf administration in deciding which businesses had to be shut down.

Wolf ordered the closure of businesses that werent deemed life sustaining" to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Republican lawmakers and business trade groups have demanded to know why some businesses had to close their doors and some received waivers from the Wolf administration to remain open.

The Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee plans to meet at 1 p.m. Thursday to consider the subpoenas.

State Sens. Mike Regan, a York County Republican, and Tom Killion, wrote letters to the governor and the state Department of Community and Economic Development to get more information about the closures. They said they got no response to the letters, which were sent April 24.

Lawmakers held a hearing with Wolf administration officials last week but found their answers lacking.

We held a hearing during which DCED and the administration had the opportunity to provide clarity about their methodology behind granting waivers to some employers and not others, Regan said in a statement. We then sent a letter requesting the same information and did not receive it. Tomorrow we will be taking definitive action.

Tens of thousands of businesses sought waivers to keep their doors open. Some argued they performed critical services and could open safely with measures to protect workers and consumers. Trade groups assailed the waiver process as being too arbitrary.

For example, a Franklin County builder was denied a waiver to complete work on a home to replace one a family lost in a fire. Some garden centers have complained they couldnt get waivers, while other garden centers were allowed to reopen.

State officials have said they aim for consistency on waiver decisions but rely on information provided by businesses on their applications.

The Wolf administration has said its aimed to be as transparent as possible. Casey Smith, a DCED spokeswoman, said earlier this week that the administration is aiming to address the concerns of businesses and lawmakers.

Throughout the duration of the waiver process, DCED has been dedicated to responding to businesses in short order, as addressing the needs of Pennsylvanias business community while protecting public health and safety has been a priority," Smith said in a statement. "The administration is reviewing the letter and will determine how best to respond in light of the extensive resources that have been devoted to addressing this disaster.

To date, the Wolf administration has not disclosed detailed information about the waiver program.

PennLive and other media organizations have submitted Right-to-Know requests for information about the program. The media groups have been told the offices are closed and the requests "will be received and processed upon our offices reopening.

Last week, Wolf said the administration is still reviewing the 40,000-plus waiver requests it received before the waiver period ended on April 3.

Republican lawmakers have been battling the Wolf administration over the scope of the shutdown of the states businesses. GOP lawmakers in the House and Senate have said the governor has erred in shutting down whole sectors of the economy, such as the construction industry, which has been brought to a virtual standstill. Republican lawmakers argued more businesses can get back to work without threatening public health.

The governor has vetoed bills passed by the Republican-controlled General Assembly that would have broadly reopened businesses. Wolf and Democratic lawmakers have argued a wide reopening of businesses could undo the states progress in slowing the spread of the virus and cost lives.

Wolf has also argued that new spikes in COVID-19 cases from lifting restrictions too broadly could do more economic damage to the state in the long term.

Still, Wolf has recently made some concessions on business.

Wolf said construction activity can resume, with some restrictions, beginning Friday. Some of the state rules will require limits on the number of workers on certain job sites. The governor also recently allowed online auto sales to begin again.

Like other states, Pennsylvanias economy is reeling due to the closure of businesses. More than 1.6 million Pennsylvanians have filed for unemployment.

Pennsylvania remains under a statewide stay-at-home order to slow the spread of the virus. More than 44,000 people have contracted the virus and nearly 2,200 have died.

The governor said he plans to begin lifting restrictions on some regions in early May. On Friday, the Wolf administration is slated to announce the first counties to be lifted from the stay-at-home order.

Those counties, which Wolf has said will likely be in northcentral and northwestern Pennsylvania, will see the stay-at-home order lifted on May 8.

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Pa. Senate Republicans to vote on subpoenas to Gov. Wolfs administration over closing businesses - PennLive

I just want to clarify and make sure everyone understands that what we're talking about here is the governor's authority to go past that 30 days of emergency power, Davidsmeyer said. Whether you agree with the governor or disagree with the governor, we believe that a separate but equal branch of government, the General Assembly, should have input in the direction of the state of Illinois.

They are just part of a growing chorus of GOP lawmakers who argue the General Assembly should be part of any decision to extend the stay-at-home order as well as when and how to reopen the states economy.

On Monday, a circuit judge in Clay County ruled in favor of Xenia Rep. Darren Baileys lawsuit claiming Pritzkers executive order will infringe on his civil rights. And while that decision applies only to Bailey, and it is being appealed, Rep. John Cabello, of Machesney Park, filed a second lawsuit Wednesday, this time seeking an injunction to prevent another stay-at-home order from going into effect.

Pritzker on Wednesday called the latest lawsuit irresponsible and an attempt at grandstanding.

Rep. Deanne Mazzochi, R-Elmhurst, has been urging Pritzker to call lawmakers back into session because those lawsuits, if ultimately successful, could put the state in financial jeopardy.

If the governor believes his actions are best for the state, he should have the Legislature confirm it, and if he can't or won't, it calls everything he has been doing into question, she said in an email Wednesday. It is also putting the entire state at risk and the state of Illinois on the hook for untold damages. Do it lawful, do it right, and be transparent about it.

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Republicans call for reopening Illinois legislative session - The Southern