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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2019 - 2020
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | April 14, 2020 01:07 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative F. Todd Polinchock |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Allowing Real Estate Services to Continue |
| I plan to introduce legislation that will require the Secretary of the Department of Community and Economic Development to issue a waiver to the Governor’s 20200319 TWW COVID 19 Business Closure Order to all real estate related activities that can adhere to social distancing practices and other mitigation measures defined by the Centers for Disease Control to protect workers and mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Pennsylvania is the only state to shut down all real estate activities, while issuing some selective waivers on an ad hoc basis. There is no consistency. While Governors in New Jersey, California, Illinois and New York have issued shelter in place orders, they have all included exemptions for real estate. Deeming the ability to purchase housing as non essential doesn’t make sense. Food and SHELTER are two of the most essential elements in life. Citizens in the Commonwealth need to be able to find housing. Real estate licensees are equipped with the skills to complete the process and transactions safely and with minimal further risk to the health of the people of Pennsylvania. Crippling the housing market is also devastating to the households of thousands of Pennsylvania real estate professional’s families when they could be earning a paycheck. As of today, the state Department of Labor and Industry reported that over 1.3 million Pennsylvanians have applied for unemployment compensation benefits in the past few weeks and the number is expected to continue to rise. Please join me in co-sponsoring this important legislation. |
Introduced as HB2412