Apr 30, 2020 By Barbara S. Miller for The 2 min read

Expressing concerns about the Department of Community and Economic Development’s handling of the novel coronavirus, Republican state senators are calling on Auditor General Eugene DePasquale to immediately begin an audit of the agency.

The 28 legislators this week formally requested he take action, citing DePasquale’s “proclaimed passion for protecting Pennsylvania taxpayers during COVID-19 and (his) constitutional obligation as Pennsylvania’s fiscal watchdog.”

State Sen. Camera Bartolotta (R-Carroll), in a news release said the audit would aid in shining a light on the administration of Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s handling of the waiver process for businesses seeking to stay open during his shutdown of businesses deemed not to be life-sustaining.

Republicans are criticizing the process for lacking clarity, consistency, common sense and transparency.

Also, in some cases, the list of nonlife-sustaining businesses that were prohibited from operating in Pennsylvania during the shutdown did not match federal guidelines, resulting in entire industries being shuttered in Pennsylvania while they continued to operate in other states, according to the news release.

There has been a heavy toll on the economy, with more than 1.6 million Pennsylvanians seeking unemployment compensation, which is second nationally only to California.

At a Senate hearing last week, senators pressed DCED Secretary Dennis Davin to release information about the businesses that were approved or denied waivers.

There was, however, no indication from the Wolf administration when this information might be available.

Comment Wednesday from the auditor general’s office was terse.

“The department is reviewing the request,” wrote Press Secretary Gary Miller in response to an email inquiry.

The toll has not only affected the economy. The deaths of 2,195 Pennsylvanians have been attributed to COVID-19, and 44,366 residents have tested positive for the highly infectious disease as of Wednesday, according to the state Department of Health. On Tuesday, the date of the senators’ letter, there were 1,214 new cases of the virus reported in the state.

Death rates due to the novel coronavirus in the United States since February topped 58,220, surpassing the number of Americans who died in the Vietnam War.

DePasquale, a Democrat, was elected auditor general in 2012 after serving as a member of the Pennsylvania General Assembly.

Limited to two terms in the statewide row office, he is running this year in the 10th Congressional District, which includes parts of Dauphin, Cumberland and York counties. His opponent is Republican incumbent Scott Perry, who is seeking a fifth, two-year term.