Audit Faults Wolf’s Business Shutdown Waiver Program

(AP) – Pennsylvania’s chief fiscal watchdog is criticizing a state program under which businesses could seek permission to operate under Gov. Tom Wolf’s pandemic shutdown. Auditor General Eugene DePasquale says waivers were granted inconsistently and with little transparency, comparing the process to a “Keystone Kops routine.”  DePasquale spoke Tuesday at a virtual news conference. The auditor general’s office has been investigating the business shutdown waiver program amid complaints it was managed unfairly. Wolf’s spokesperson referred questions to the Department of Community and Economic Development, which ran the program. The department says its waiver decisions were based on whether the business offered “life-sustaining services.”