Restore funding to help fix broken mental health care system

Dear Mr. President,

Welcome to the Lehigh Valley. I hope this visit finds you well.

Like so many Americans and Pennsylvanians, we have struggled during this outbreak. Allentown has a per capita infection rate almost 4.5 times as the rest of Pennsylvania. We’ve lost 121 people in Lehigh County, where you are visiting today. Over 2,000 Allentown residents are ill. Over 3,700 are sick throughout this county.

On behalf of the people of the 132nd Legislative District, I have some questions:

• You have recently tweeted that Pennsylvanians “want their freedom.” What is the national testing strategy? How can we ensure freedom and safety at the same time?
• What are the plans to provide our health care professionals, first responders and essential workers with the Personal Protective Equipment necessary to keep them safe?
• In the next year, Allentown and the Lehigh Valley risks losing thousands of teachers, police officers and firefighters as a result of budget cuts. These aren’t “red” employees or “blue” employees, but American ones. They are people who educate our kids and keep us safe. What is the plan to help us pay for teachers, police officers, firefighters and more?
• You’ve been arguing for people to get back to work. You said in a news conference that, “we have met the moment and prevailed,” yet COVID-19 seems to be running rampant in the White House. If you can’t even keep COVID-19 out of the most secure building in the world, how do you expect to keep it out of our grocery stores, schools, churches and temples? How can we get back to work when this disease is still so prevalent?
• Thousands of Lehigh Valley residents have lost their jobs and the health insurance that comes with it. At the same time, your administration has argued to overturn the Affordable Care Act, which has proven to be a lifeline for tens of thousands of Lehigh Valley residents. How are we going to give these people the health insurance that they need? How are we going to save their lives without health care?

If you are here to give us those answers, to alleviate our concerns and care for our citizens, we welcome you with open arms. If you are here to take pictures with workers, campaign for your re-election and attack those who disagree with you, please, go back to Washington and get back to work. My constituents are dying, they are broke, and they are desperate. This moment needs tangible solutions, not pretty pictures.

Also, I’m begging you, please follow the advice of your own doctors and wear a mask. We have one of the highest rates of infection in the entire state. I really don’t want you to get sick and infect anyone else.

Sincerely,

Mike Schlossberg

State Representative, 132nd Legislative District