Back before the primary I was warning people that the ballot initiatives, all of which ultimately passed, would allow the legislature to end the two states of emergency active in Pennsylvania – Covid-19 and Opioids. Immediately after the election the legislature ended the first emergency (although the legislature then re-enacted all of Gov. Wolf’s Covid-19 measures demonstrating Republican opposition was just for show) and now they’ve allowed the second declared emergency to lapse as well. This is despite overdoses rising in the past year in Pennsylvania. Apparently Pennsylvania Republicans don’t think the over 28,000 Pennsylvanians that died from Covid-19 or the 5,172 drug overdoses last year constitute an emergency.

Related, earlier this year the Inquirer had a detailed look at the heroin drug trade in Kensington which is also worth a read.