OLD FORGE, Pa. — Gov. Tom Wolf was in Lackawanna County Thursday morning. He visited a restaurant in Old Forge to highlight state funding given out to nearly 200 businesses in the county.
The governor also answered questions about potential COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates.
Gov. Wolf says he is not in favor of another statewide shutdown, and he is also not in favor of requiring proof of vaccination to enter certain businesses like New York City just decided to do this week.
Whether he has the power to enforce either of those things is another story. The question of whether last year's business shutdown was constitutional or not is still tied up in the courts.
This news comes as a relief to business owners such as the owner of Cafe Rinaldi in Old Forge, who told us he likely couldn't afford a second shutdown.
The governor visited Cafe Rinaldi to highlight the $2.3 million in state grants given out in May to more than 170 businesses in Lackawanna County.
Cafe Rinaldi received $25,000 of that, which the owner says helped him keep the lights on and keep his staff employed.
Rinaldi says he was very happy to hear Gov. Wolf's answer to the question of whether he's considering new mandates.
"The problems with the mandates, we did that back in a time when we didn't have the vaccines. People can make their own individual decision to get the vaccine, and in Pennsylvania, they have done that," Gov. Wolf said.
Like many small business owners, when Jeff Keating from Backyard Ale House heard that New York City was requiring people to show proof of vaccination to enter restaurants and gyms, he wondered if the same might happen here in Pennsylvania.
"You think, kind of like the trickle-down effect, once you see it happening in the bigger cities, you know it's only a matter of time before it reaches us. We were kind of like, 'Aw man, is that really gonna be coming our way?'"
So he was surprised and relieved to hear Governor Wolf's response to Newswatch 16's question about vaccine requirements during his visit to Old Forge.
Governor Wolf also said he's not in favor of any statewide mandates or shutdowns.
"That's right; I'm not. I'm doing everything I can to make sure we never go back to that," said the governor.
"Hearing that was quite a relief," said Russell Rinaldi. "I don't think we could (afford another shutdown.)."
"Considering how careful he's been with the initial onset of COVID, I thought that the chance of another shutdown was a possibility, a strong possibility. I am pleasantly surprised he said he was not interested in that because we all need to go back to work as usual," Keating added.