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WILKES-BARRE — Despite the lack of support of his Democratic colleagues, state Rep. Gerald Mullery on Tuesday said a Senate bill which would put a moratorium on closing the White Haven and Polk state centers received approval of a House committee on Tuesday.
“I want to thank House Health Committee Chair Kathy Rapp for recognizing the necessity of Senate Bill 906 and running it quickly,” said Mullery, D-Newport Township. “Time is running out to prevent the closure of these centers and to protect the hundreds of residents, their families and their caregivers.”
S.B. 906 now heads to the full House for consideration.
Senate Bill 906 is a companion bill to Mullery’s House Bill 1918. Under the legislation a moratorium would be enacted on the closing of White Haven and Polk state centers until Pennsylvania is better prepared to respond to the impending fallout.
Mullery said the committee approved it by a vote of 13 to 12 with 13 of 15 Republican members voting in favor and all 10 Democrats against.
“It is very difficult to express my frustration and disappointment with my Democratic colleagues,” Mullery said. “It is difficult enough to be fighting the governor, but to have members on my own side of the aisle choose party over peoples’ lives and jobs is very disheartening.”
Tom Kashatus, a Luzerne County resident, whose daughter Maria has been at White Haven for 40 years, said he is pleased with the committee vote, but was equally concerned with the party-line breakdown.
“I’ve been a Democrat since I was old enough to vote and I am extremely disappointed with the Democrats philosophic change toward caring for people,” Kashatus said. “I don’t know what has happened to this party in Harrisburg, it’s just not the same party today as it was in the past.”
In early October, Sen. John Yudichak, I-Plymouth Township, who is the prime sponsor, and three other state senators — Lisa Baker, Scott Hutchinson and Michele Brooks — introduced the legislation that would impose a moratorium on the scheduled closing of the White Haven and Polk state centers for people with disabilities.
The announcement came as Mullery introduced a similar House bill.
Each of the senators represents regions served by one of the two centers.
Baker, R-Lehman Township, and Yudichak have been vocal about how the closure of White Haven State Center would affect residents, relatives and employees of the facility in southern Luzerne County.
Hutchinson, R-Oil City, and Brooks, R-Greenville, have raised similar concerns about the closure of Polk State Center in Venango County.
The centers serve individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The state Department of Human Services (DHS) in August announced plans to close them within three years, a move that caught staff, patients, relatives and lawmakers by surprise.
If White Haven and Polk closed, it would leave just two state centers — Ebensburg, in Cambria County, and Selinsgrove, in Snyder County — for those families and residents who opted to remain in state centers.
Yudichak, Brooks, Hutchinson and Lisa Baker issued a joint statement regarding the committee approval:
“Today we are one step closer to giving the people who live at Polk and White Haven State Centers what they deserve — a choice to remain in the place they call home. We appreciate House Health Committee Chair Rapp for bringing this bill that protects our most vulnerable citizens up for consideration. We continue to be their voice in Harrisburg and will not be silenced until we save these centers.”
SB 906 would do the following:
• Prohibit the Department of Human Services from closing a state facility until all Medicaid waiver-eligible individuals in the Commonwealth are authorized to begin receiving home and community-based services.
• Require DHS to provide notice in the Pennsylvania Bulletin when all individuals have received authorization to begin home and community-based services.
• Establish the Task Force on the Closure of State Centers upon publication of notice.
• Require the Secretary of DHS to convene an initial meeting of the task force within 60 days.
