Posted: | March 27, 2020 04:19 PM |
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From: | Senator Pam Iovino |
To: | All Senate members |
Subject: | Payment of Contract Services in Schools during the Pandemic of 2020 |
In the near future I plan on introducing legislation that would amend the recently passed Pandemic of 2020 section of the Public School Code to provide all school contractors with the same protections given to school bus transportation services. We are in unprecedented times. In the flurry to address outstanding issues that arose in schools throughout the Commonwealth since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, employees who provide services to schools through contracts were left out. Thousands of workers across the Commonwealth are no longer getting paychecks for services school districts have budgeted for. Compounding their circumstances, many of these individuals have lost their healthcare coverage. In this difficult time, we should not be allowing people to lose their paycheck or livelihood for services they are unable to perform due to the constraints placed on schools during the COVID-19 outbreak. It is not that these contractors do not want to work; instead, they are physically unable to work because schools are closed. My legislation would amend the Pandemic of 2020 section of the Public School Code to allow school entities to renegotiate a contract for contract service providers during the period of school closure. These are the same protections provided to school bus transportation services. Please join me in sponsoring this legislation. |
Introduced as SB1107