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Home , Aaron Bernstine, Bud Cook (politician), Clint Owlett, Curt Sonney, David Hickernell, Dawn Keefer

House of Bepr esentutibes - Co--onw-ealth of Harrisburg

August 7,2O2O

Office of the Governor 508 Main Capitol Building Harrisburg, PA77tzD

Governor Wolf:

We wish to communicate our frustration with your remarks during a press conference on August 6, as well your subsequent press release, providing a "strong recommendation" that school sports should not continue as planned during the upcoming school year.

On July 3L,2O2O, to answer rumors that your administration will close Pennsylvania schools for the upcoming school year, you wrote on the social media website Twitter that "school governing boards and administratorswilldetermine if school buildings reopen and if classes resume in person, remotely, ora combination of the two."

We agreed with this response because it honored the very fabric of which our Commonwealth operates, that these decisions are best made locally-by the men and women who were elected to serve on Pennsylvania's school boards. They carry with them the sentiments of their constituents into every decision they make and should not have their authority usurped.

But your newest "recommendation" goes against that very premise and is a slap in the face to those school board members, their staffs, and more importantly, the thousands of Pennsylvania athletes and their families who have been preparing for the fall sports season. Furthermore, we are in disbelief that you carelessly disregarded the input of the Pennsylvania lnterscholastic Athletic Association, who has governed Pennsylvania sports for more than 100 years and have established guidelines to allow sports to resume.

Furthermore, it must also be noted that two Right-to-Know Law requests were submitted by Representative seeking data that has driven this decision. Moving forward with any further restrictions or mitigation efforts, in any manner whatsoever, until this information is provided is simply negligent and reckless.

Sports are important for students, families and communities. After months of cooperating with state mandates that they may or may not have agreed with, students are looking forward to some form of normalcy with the return of school sports. Those dreams and plans were single handedly crushed by your unilateral direction. It is with these points in mind that we call on you to do the right thing and rescind your August 6 remarks and treat the men and women who manage Pennsylvania's schools as professionals. Allow them to decide for their individual districts if sports should continue, in what manner and who may watch.

We welcome any opportunity to discuss these matters with you further.

Sincerely, 0e" 4fieM 100th Legislative District 171't Legislative District Speaker Majority Leader

r'f rvL ry* Y-l Marcy Toepel 63'd Legislative District 147th Legislative District Majority Whip Majority Caucus Chair

J*^ J^\ ruMike Reese Stanley Saylor 59th Legislative District 94th Legislative District Majority Caucus Secreta ry Majority Appropriations Chairman

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Kurt Masser L07th Legislative District 67th Legislative District Majority Caucus Administrator Majority Policy Chairman Stephen Barrar L50th Legislative District 10th Legislative District

Stephanie Borowicz 76th Legislative District 49th Legislative District

t G 'f,,,*a^ 5"1^# 0h'(/ Jim Cox Lynda Culver 129th Legislative District 108th Legislative District

Eric Davanzo 58th Legislative District &tu102nd Legislative District Matthew Dowling George Dunbar 5L't Legislative District 56th Legislative District /s- (k Cris Dush 55th Legislative District 193'd Legislative District e* t

Joe Emrick 137th Legislative District 84th Legislative District

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&do** &*)'** Barb Gleim 199th Legislative District 80th Legislative District y**t_t ,ryllt

Keith Greiner Seth Grove 43'd Legislative District 196th Legislative District H. 4Pb C =eaba^-Susan Helm 122nd Legislative District 104th Legislative District 7aJ4 *{'-a'-'4 Jonathan Hershey 82nd Legislative District 98th Leglslatlve Dlstrlct .ft;l K, a4Jai-. Rich lrvin "lrr^ 54th District 81't Legislative District Legislative tJ

Josh Kail Rob Kauffman L5th Legislative District 89th Legislative District

Dawn Keefer 92nd Legislative District 86th Legislative District fuA-A',t- John Lawrence 1"69th Legislative District l.3th Legislative District W?n"*'p David Maloney 134th Legislative District 1.30th Legislative District

fu'?/'4U */ 7TW Jim Marshall L4th Legislative District 1.2th Legislative District 4o,rr^y(,r*e CarlWalker Metzgar bgth Legislative Llistrict 1.lth Leglslatlve Dlstrlct &,,,

Eric Nelson Timothy O'Neal 57th Legislative District 48th Legislative District

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Jason Ortitay 46th Legislative District 68th Legislative District

Todd Polinchock L44rh Legislative District 39th Legislative District

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Jim Rigby 7Lst Legislative District 6th Legislative District A\.-- {d{ I

Greg Rothman David Rowe 87th Legislative District 85th Legislative District &** X'fZfr { S-axa- Thomas Sankey 1.0L't Legislative District 73'd Legislative District PaulSchemel Louis Schmitt 90th Legislative District 79th Legislative District

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Curt Sonney 4th Legislative District 145th Legislative District

f*t-t'-, UtdtJ Jim Struzzi 62nd Legislative District J.16th Legislative District

tP**' * f*" ->-** d}"/la-f.^.. 78th Legislative District 52nd Legislative District

Dave Zimmerman 99th Legislative District