Signs are displayed in the window of a store in Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. The Paycheck Protection Program, aimed at helping small businesses survive the coronavirus crisis, has been beset by problems.
Paul Sancya / AP Photo
Audit faults Wolf’s business shutdown waiver program
Auditor General Eugene DePasquale's office has been investigating the business shutdown waiver program amid complaints it was managed unfairly.
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Michael Rubinkam/Associated Press
Paul Sancya / AP Photo
Signs are displayed in the window of a store in Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. The Paycheck Protection Program, aimed at helping small businesses survive the coronavirus crisis, has been beset by problems.
(Harrisburg) — Pennsylvania’s chief fiscal watchdog on Tuesday criticized a state program under which businesses could seek permission to operate during Gov. Tom Wolf’s pandemic shutdown, saying waivers were granted inconsistently and with little transparency and comparing the process to a “Keystone Kops routine.”
The office of Auditor General Eugene DePasquale has been investigating the business shutdown waiver program amid complaints it was managed unfairly. The audit, which is ongoing, has uncovered significant problems that created an uneven playing field for businesses across Pennsylvania, DePasquale said.
“The waiver program appeared to be a subjective process built on shifting sands of changing guidance, which led to significant confusion among business owners,” DePasquale said at a virtual news conference.
Tim Tai / The Philadelphia Inquirer
More than 830,000 Pennsylvanians have abruptly found themselves without a job or income following the statewide shutdown of schools and all but “life-sustaining” businesses — decisions intended to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
In March, Wolf closed businesses deemed “non-life-sustaining” to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, but established a waiver program run by the Department of Community Development under which tens of thousands of businesses applied to remain open during the pandemic.
DePasquale, a fellow Democrat who is running for Congress this year, said program guidelines changed repeatedly; the decision to grant or deny a waiver often depended on which staffer was making the decision; and, for more than 500 businesses, the department changed its waiver decisions without ever giving a reason why.
Auditors combed through nearly 600 pages of emails, texts and other communications sent by legislators and lobbyists to the department to advocate for businesses applying for waivers, DePasquale said. He said auditors are seeking similar communications between legislators and lobbyists and the governor’s office.
DCED officials suggested to state auditors that some of the department’s decisions to grant or deny a business waiver were later changed by the governor’s office, DePasquale said. He said his auditors are seeking to confirm that.
“If they were, we would want to know the rationale for why,” DePasquale said.
Wolf’s spokesperson referred questions to the Department of Community and Economic Development, which planned to issue a response to DePasquale’s criticism later Tuesday.
Wolf has said he has no intention of ordering a statewide business shutdown again, but DePasquale said that improvements will have to be made to the waiver program if it’s needed again.
“We can’t have this Keystone Kops routine again,” he said.
A collection of interviews, photos, and music videos, featuring local musicians who have stopped by the WITF performance studio to share a little discussion and sound. Produced by WITF’s Joe Ulrich.
