Republican Wendi Thomas, a 26-year resident of Richboro, is running for a second two-year term in the state House of Representatives from the 178th District.
Before her nine-year tenure on the Council Rock Board of Education, where she had served as president, she worked with Healthcare Advocate of Plymouth Meeting, which helped people navigate health care.
As a former health care professional, Thomas praised the state’s initial steps in dealing with the coronavirus, but says now progress has been flawed “due to what I believe was the biggest mistake: a lack of transparency.”
“Too often,” she said, “one business was allowed to open while another wasn’t, even though both offered identical goods and services. For example, big box stores were allowed to open but small business on Main Street was not — even though each could follow CDC and Health department guidelines.”
She suggested the state build a bipartisan coalition of legislators, residents, businesses, health care professionals, hospitals and educators from across the state to make decisions with more information and transparency.
Along those lines, the House at the beginning of October unanimously passed legislation (HB-2792) that would create a registry of medical directors in nursing homes, personal care homes and assisted living facilities.
“(The bill) would establish improved communication avenues with medical long-term leadership for educational opportunities…(and) collaboration between organizations and compliance with state-mandated regulations,” she said. It could also be used during other heath crises, such as influenza, the norovirus and other seasonal outbreaks.
That bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.
On other medical issues, Thomas noted she recently “voted in favor of a new law aimed directly at helping to control and reduce prescription drug costs by lifting the ‘gag order’ on pharmacists and allowing them to better educate people about generic drugs that are less expensive but just as effective.”
Thomas added she is also the prime sponsor of a bill to require coverage of pre-existing conditions as well as other requirements for any insurance policy offered the new State Exchange.
In dealing with the reality of the pandemic, Thomas supported HB 2787 which proposed that local governments should have control over whether schools allows sports and whether they have an audience.
“I believe that one-size-fits-all is not the right approach and that local elected officials, working with local health experts and local data, are best suited to know their community.
“A strong bipartisan majority of the legislature joined me in my support and initially passed the bill but, unfortunately, some members chose to play politics with this issue by flip-flopping on their position when it became politically harmful to the governor,” she stated.
On other issues, such as extending the time eligibility for unemployment compensation, Thomas noted, while it is “something that we need to look at, the first and best solution is to safely and responsibly restart our economy following the appropriate CDC guidelines so people can get back to work.”
As for efforts to restructure local police departments, she noted this July Pennsylvania was one of the first, “if not the first,” states to pass significant reform bills, “and I was proud to be part of the bipartisan group that accomplished it … That said, the radical ideas being put forth to ‘Defund Our Police’ will do nothing but make our communities less safe.”
Wendi and John (J.T.) Thomas, who met in their senior year at Gettysburg College, have been married for 30 years and have three children, all graduates of Council Rock High School.
Join our readers whose generous donations are making it possible for you to read our news coverage. Help keep local journalism alive and our community strong. Donate today.
