In Pennsylvania, back-to-office orders defy usual political lines
HARRISBURG, Pa. (KDKA) — When Governor Josh Shapiro (D) ordered state employees to return to in-office work at least three days per week by March 6, Harrisburg Mayor Wanda Williams, a Democrat, celebrated.
But so did State Rep. Seth Grove, a Republican who represents part of York County.
"Telework has a place," Grove said. But "getting state employees back to work is very important for the continuation of services and for citizens interacting with those agencies."
Shapiro's predecessor, Tom Wolf (D), hesitated to restore pre-pandemic in-person work requirements. Williams ordered city employees back to work in early 2022, partly because of concerns similar to Grove's – "The interaction needs to be done, and you need to be here," she said – and partly because of something else.
"We've lost revenue by those individuals not being here centered in the city of Harrisburg," Williams said. "Most of my businesses, my restaurants, are hurting…. Parking (revenue) was very, very much in distress."
In Harrisburg's Arepa House, Yanira Germán – frying the eponymous cornmeal cakes popular in countries like Colombia and Venezuela – said the math is simple: More hungry people downtown at lunchtime will mean more arepas sold.
The dynamic in Harrisburg is similar to that of other states with Democratic governors, where mayors of state capitals, who tend to be Democrats, have urged the governors to order state employees back to the office. By early 2022, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg (D) was publicly asking California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) to send state employees back to their desks.
Even as Covid-19 cases and deaths have subsided, Democratic governors have been more reluctant than their Republican counterparts to tighten teleworking policies.
In Washington, D.C., where U.S. House Republicans have introduced legislation that would force federal employees to return to in-office work, Mayor Muriel Bowser has implored President Joe Biden – like Bowser, a Democrat – to send federal employees back to the office.
A spokesman for Shapiro said about 2,300 state workers will be affected by the change. Some, he said, already work in the office part of the time but less than the new three-day minimum requirement.
Asked to comment about the unusual political fault lines created by back-to-work controversies, both Williams and Grove said they didn't view the return to more in-person work as a partisan issue.