THREAD:

While the #COVID19 death toll in Pennsylvania continues to rise, the same state legislators who are pushing policy to reopen our commonwealth against expert medical advice have now proven themselves unable to even responsibly self-govern in the face of this virus.

Rep. @russdiamond, the prime sponsor of the upcoming #HR863 to end the disaster emergency in PA (a move that would cost the state over $1.5 billion in federal relief), reported today that he was notified of exposure to #COVID19 2 weeks ago through contract tracing protocols.

Nevertheless, he continued to attend committee meetings in Harrisburg throughout last week, potentially exposing all who attended. He has also publicly commented that he refuses to be tested and will refuse vaccination.

Rep. Andrew Lewis also confirmed today that he became ill on May 18 and tested positive for #COVID19 on May 20. @PAHouseGOP leadership was notified then that the representative had tested positive. @PaHouseDems leadership was notified only TODAY by a reporter.

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🚨" title="Police cars revolving light" aria-label="Emoji: Police cars revolving light">THE SAME REPRESENTATIVES ATTEMPTING TO REOPEN OUR STATE IMMEDIATELY AND REWRITE THE RULES MEANT TO PROTECT PENNSYLVANIAN LIVES CANNOT EVEN BE BOTHERED TO PROTECT THEIR OWN COLLEAGUES.https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🚨" title="Police cars revolving light" aria-label="Emoji: Police cars revolving light">

We must not allow “leaders” with such obvious self-serving, anti-science motives to unnecessarily endanger more lives. We as legislators must hold each other accountable and demand the same transparency in our internal communications that we have promised to our constituents.

And we must continue to do all in our power to protect as many Pennsylvanian lives as possible.

END THREAD