A bill to provide safe harbor liability protections for manufacturers of personal protective equipment, health care institutions and providers treating COVID-19 patients, as well as businesses subjected to exposure lawsuits, is circulating in the state Senate. The soon-to-be-introduced bill is gaining momentum and needs additional co-sponsors.
Senator Lisa Baker, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is the lead sponsor of the bill. “It’s hard to imagine an environment more target rich for litigation,” she said in her co-sponsorship memo. “It is also hard to have circumstances less suited to the customary cause-and-effect nature of litigation.”We agree! PCCJR called for liability protections for COVID-19 heroes starting in the earliest days of the pandemic. Our position is laid out in this op ed published in Broad and Liberty. The prospect of endless lawsuits threatens Pennsylvania’s recovery. If job creators are under the constant worry and threat of being sued by attorneys looking to place blame for COVID-19 exposure, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to get Pennsylvania’s economy restarted.
PCCJR has worked closely with Senator Baker’s staff to develop this legislation that will address in one bill the three major concerns needing safe harbor from COVID-19 related liability.
Help us provide this legislation with even more momentum! Call your Senator today and ask them to co-sponsor and support Senator Lisa Baker’s COVID-19 safe harbor bill to help Pennsylvania resolve this urgent liability issue. Senators Patrick J. Stefano, Michele Brooks and Kristin Phillips-Hill have signed on to the bill already. They get it and have also sponsored other liability protection bills to lead us out of the liability crisis surrounding the pandemic.