With Pennsylvania having a COVID-19 mortality rate for nursing home and long-term care residents among the highest in the nation, state Senators Pat Browne (R-16) and Judy Ward (R-30) have demanded the Wolf Administration live up to promises to protect the state’s most vulnerable residents.  COVID deaths in Pennsylvania nursing homes and long-term care facilities continue to soar past the national average of 38 percent, reaching 60 percent – the sixth-highest in the nation. Recently, representatives of the nursing home industry sued the Commonwealth, saying that the state illegally withheld $150 million in federal funding, diverting the money into other human services programs. The funding was part of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.  A Senate hearing in May exposed glaring inadequacies regarding the Wolf Administration’s treatment of nursing homes during the pandemic, including a lack of supplies and testing.

PennDOT has issued its one millionth REAL ID product, a major milestone in its work to issue REAL ID-compliant products to customers.  REAL ID is a federal law that affects how states issue driver’s licenses and ID cards if they are going to be acceptable for federal purposes, such as boarding a domestic flight or entering a federal building that requires ID upon entry. A federally acceptable form of identification must be used for these purposes beginning October 1st, 2021. There is no requirement that any resident obtain a REAL ID; PennDOT continues to offer standard-issue driver’s licenses and photo IDs.