States that hurt small businesses during the pandemic

[justme]

here's my thot processes back then, and my thot processes now that there is news that walmart is closing some stores.

back then, my thots were, they are trying to get rid of the little guy, so that they can have more control. and once they have gotten rid of the little guy, then they will start on the big guys.
well, guess what? now walmart is closing stores.
i said all along, this is an exercise in control.
i'm even more convinced of it now.

[mike]

In which state? That didn't happen were I live in WA.

Pennsylvania. Here's just one frustrated business owner who vented to the news.

Here they were limited to 25% of listed capacity plus mandatory masking. But they could stay open. So a small store could only let in a few customers at a time. But they could stay open. But even Costco and Ikea had to follow those rules. They had LONG lines outside and you could only go in every time someone else came out.

How long did that sort of thing stay in effect in PA? Was it short-term during the beginning of the pandemic or longer lasting?

Timeline:

March 19 – Wolf ordered all “non-life-sustaining businesses” to close at 8pm, with enforcement actions for non-compliance beginning 12am on Saturday, March 21. Enforcement was delayed, however, until 8am on March 23 due to waiver requests approaching 10,000 over the weekend. This order superseded previous business closure recommendations.
Local officials and the following state agencies are directed to enforce closure orders: the Liquor Control Board, Department of Agriculture, State Police, and the Department of Health.
Enforcement measures include citations, fines, or license suspensions, and forfeiture of businesses' right to receive disaster relief aid. The Department of Health can also prosecute noncompliant entities with fines and even imprisonment.
Here is a list of impacted entities, which does not apply to virtual or telework operations. Businesses could submit questions and apply for closure waivers.
Courts were also closed to the public with essential functions determined at each court level.
The governor said he would not deploy the state policy of National Guard to enforce the orders or recommendations, instead opting to support local law enforcement and officials.
March 23 – Wolf extended school closures another two weeks and issued a stay-at-home order in seven counties. Roads, pharmacies, grocery stores, and essential businesses remain open.
The stay-at-home list was extended to all 67 counties.
March 30 – The governor closed businesses and school indefinitely.
March 31 – The president approved part of Wolf's request for a major disaster declaration, providing federal funding for all levels of Pennsylvania government to respond to COVID-19.
April 1 – The administration announced the waiver application process would close on April 3, 5pm. At the time of announcement, the state had received more than 34,000 waiver requests, approving 5,600 and denying over 8,600.
The administration has since begun allowing certain industries to reopen under guidance. These include: non-essential construction and online car sales (May 1), limited real estate transactions (April 28), and golf courses, guided fishing trips, and privately owned camping grounds (May 1).
April 9 – Wolf extended school closures for the remainder of the academic year.
April 17 – Wolf announced a process to reopen Pennsylvania. The twice revised plan will be implemented on a county level in three phases, incorporating measures such as fewer than 50 new confirmed cases per 100,000 county residents over the previous 14 days, testing availability, contact tracing capabilities, and modeling dashboard data from Carnegie Mellon University.
April 27 – Health Secretary Levine announced guidance for elective procedures to resume at health care facilities days after UPMC announces they will resume elective surgeries.
On April 28, the Supreme Court extended the closure order through June 1 and directed county courts to resume a broader range of operations on May 4, “giving priority to critical matters and remaining focused on protecting the health and safety of court users, personnel and the public.” Specifically, President judges have substantial authority in deadline enforcement, Magisterial District Court payment suspension will end May 11, and criminal and civil jury trials remain suspended.
April 29 – Wolf releases cross-agency guidance on telehealth.
May 8 – Wolf announces that construction can resume under guidelines. Wolf had issued the construction industry guidance on April 23. The first round (“yellow phase”) of reopening occurred in 24 counties: Bradford, Cameron, Centre, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Forest, Jefferson, Lawrence, Lycoming, McKean, Mercer, Montour, Northumberland, Potter, Snyder, Sullivan, Tioga, Union, Venango, and Warren.
May 15 – Another 13 counties entered the yellow phase: Allegheny, Armstrong, Bedford, Blair, Butler, Cambria, Fayette, Fulton, Greene, Indiana, Somerset, Washington, and Westmoreland.
May 19 – Wolf announces guidance for real estate industry and allows for limited real estate activities.
May 22 – Twelve more counties move to yellow: Adams, Beaver, Carbon, Columbia, Cumberland, Juniata, Mifflin, Perry, Susquehanna, Wyoming, Wayne, and York.
May 27 – Wolf issues guidance on dining and professional sports in yellow/green counties.
May 29 – 17 counties move to green: Bradford, Cameron, Clarion, Clearfield, Crawford, Elk, Forest, Jefferson, Lawrence, McKean, Montour, Potter, Snyder, Sullivan, Tioga, Venango and Warren. Eight counties move to yellow: Dauphin, Franklin, Huntingdon, Lebanon, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, and Schuylkill.
June 4 – Wolf allows stay-at-home order to expire.
June 5 – 16 counties move to green: Allegheny, Armstrong, Bedford, Blair, Butler, Cambria, Clinton, Fayette, Fulton, Greene, Indiana, Lycoming, Mercer, Somerset, Washington, and Westmoreland. 10 counties move to yellow: Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lehigh, Northampton, Montgomery and Philadelphia.
June 10 – Wolf issues preliminary guidance for high school and recreational sports teams to resume activities. Wolf releases updated guidance on outdoor recreation in the yellow and green phase.
June 12 – 12 counties move to green: Adams, Beaver, Carbon, Columbia, Cumberland, Juniata, Mifflin, Northumberland, Union, Wayne, Wyoming and York. 10 counties move to yellow: Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lehigh, Northampton, Montgomery and Philadelphia.
June 19 – 8 more counties more to green: Dauphin, Franklin, Huntingdon, Luzerne, Monroe, Perry, Pike, and Schuylkill.
June 26 – 12 more counties move to green: Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Erie, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northhampton, Philadelphia, and Susquehanna.
July 3 – Wolf announces Lebanon county will move to green on July 3rd, putting all 67 counties in green. Secretary Levine issues a mandatory mask wearing order.
July 2 – Philly moves to a modified green phase that reopens most businesses with diminished capacity and outdoor-only dining, delaying further reopening to August 1.
July 15 – Wolf signs a new mitigation order with restrictions for bars, restaurants, gatherings, and telework.

[steve-in-kville]

Some people claim that these states don't like small businesses and do like the big box stores. Is there any truth to this?

Absolutely. I work in the food industry on a distribution level and witnessed all manner of craziness. But then I just listened to a podcast on how the JFK assassination was directly related to aliens and Area 51. So take that into consideration

[Grace]

Pennsylvania. Here's just one frustrated business owner who vented to the news.

Pa. Governor Wolf was horrible during the pandemic. There were thousands of businesses in Pa. that were forced to close down because of Gov. Wolf's Covid mandates, businesses that were deemed non-essential by the Governor. Yet the non-essential business Gov. Wolf owned before becoming Governor, Wolf Home Products, a cabinet making business was allowed to stay open. Also a non-essential business owned by the Senate's most powerful member was allowed to stay open. The Dan Smith Candy Company, owned by Joe Scarnati which made and sold candies, chocolates and other specialty items at stores in the northern part of the state

Then there was the issue of forcing nursing homes to take Covid patients. Before his mandate was imposed, his health secretary Rachel/Richard Levine made sure his/her mother was moved into the cushy Hershey Hotel.

[barnhart]

I don't have data, but I imagine government on all levels finds it easier to regulate and do commerce with big business, they speak the same language and communicate with the same lawyers. But I am skeptical government (in general) dislikes small business. In a land of giants, small things are easily trampled without malice.

Sometimes small business is actually encouraged by the the regulatory structure. Some time ago New York state and New York City made an honest effort to streamline regulation to encourage small production agriculture in the Hudson valley and Farmers markets in the city. The last I checked the number of small producers jumped significantly and the average age of farmers is falling in NY as younger people get involved.

[steve-in-kville]

Pennsylvania. Here's just one frustrated business owner who vented to the news.

Pa. Governor Wolf was horrible during the pandemic. There were thousands of businesses in Pa. that were forced to close down because of Gov. Wolf's Covid mandates, businesses that were deemed non-essential by the Governor. Yet the non-essential business Gov. Wolf owned before becoming Governor, Wolf Home Products, a cabinet making business was allowed to stay open.

To my immediate knowledge, all the little wood furniture shops were allowed to stay open, or were granted permission to do so during the shut down because of Wolf. Want to know why? They supplied wood shavings to the ag industry. That was Wolf's work around.

[Grace]

Pennsylvania. Here's just one frustrated business owner who vented to the news.

Pa. Governor Wolf was horrible during the pandemic. There were thousands of businesses in Pa. that were forced to close down because of Gov. Wolf's Covid mandates, businesses that were deemed non-essential by the Governor. Yet the non-essential business Gov. Wolf owned before becoming Governor, Wolf Home Products, a cabinet making business was allowed to stay open.

To my immediate knowledge, all the little wood furniture shops were allowed to stay open, or were granted permission to do so during the shut down because of Wolf. Want to know why? They supplied wood shavings to the ag industry. That was Wolf's work around.

That makes sense. But doesn't change the fact that there were lots of inconsistencies in his policies. We have a friend who has a dump truck and does a lot of stone hauling. At one point due to the governor's mandates, Rohrer's Quarry was closed unless you had a special permit to buy stone. However a few miles away Allan Myers Quarry completely ignored Gov. Wolf's mandates. You guessed it, all those who would have gotten stones from Rohrer's headed over to Allan Myers. It didn't take long until Rohrer's was opened to all haulers, permits or no permits. Someone asked if they don't fear getting into trouble with Wolf's Covid restrictions. Their reply was, we changed our policy, to "don't ask, don't tell".

The weirdest things, was that Gov. Wolf wanted to follow the CDC and Dr. Mengeli Fauci's guidelines to "follow the science", yet they had a person on the health commission that was born a man with all the man parts, who claimed to be a woman. So much for following the science.

[steve-in-kville]

The weirdest things, was that Gov. Wolf wanted to follow the CDC and Dr. Mengeli Fauci's guidelines to "follow the science", yet they had a person on the health commission that was born a man with all the man parts, who claimed to be a woman. So much for following the science.

Very true.

[Franklin]

Here in Texas, the more reasonable local governments simply ignored the unconstitutional fascist covid decrees coming from the state government. Did anything like this happen in Pennsylvania? I ask because I am thinking of moving to Pennsylvania and the only real hope for political sanity is sane local governments that ignore the insanity coming from higher levels of government.

[Josh]

Here in Texas, the more reasonable local governments simply ignored the unconstitutional fascist covid decrees coming from the state government. Did anything like this happen in Pennsylvania? I ask because I am thinking of moving to Pennsylvania and the only real hope for political sanity is sane local governments that ignore the insanity coming from higher levels of government.

Many businesses in Lebanon Co. did, and they in turn got punished with not being allowed to become a "green" county for a while after every single other county was.

In Ohio, Holmes Co. pretty much operated as normal.

But you will find no place that rebelled more against Covid restriction than red-county California. Modoc, Shasta, and Lassen in particular brazenly ignored (illegal) state restrictions, right up to county-level government. It was a nice place to drive up to and enjoy an hour in a coffeehouse.