Although there was no buffet or mingling as in years past, the Butler Chamber of Commerce's virtual legislative breakfast Friday morning was a lively exchange of information and ideas.

Five state legislators and two U.S. representatives shared their thoughts during the annual legislative breakfast. Jordan Grady, executive director of the Butler Chamber of Commerce, said this year's “State of the Commonwealth” event was attended online by nearly 100 business owners and county leaders.

The coronavirus pandemic was the main topic of discussion and all seven Republican elected officials had little praise for Gov. Tom Wolf's handling of the unprecedented health crisis.

State Sen. Scott Hutchinson, R-21st, said he was impressed with the bipartisan collaboration that occurred when the virus first reared its head in Pennsylvania.

He said actions agreed upon by both sides of the aisle included changing due dates and deadlines for tax payments, allowing the secretary of education to waive school calendar and standardized testing requirements, adopting procedures for the general assembly to meet online and extending the due date for the primary election.

But, Hutchinson said, things “got murkier” as the pandemic wore on and Wolf's shutdown declaration continued.

He said the Wolf administration provided no input on the definition of an essential business or why some businesses received waivers to the shutdown while others did not.

At that point, Hutchinson said, things became partisan.

“We still don't know all the metrics (on essential businesses or waivers),” he said.

U.S. Rep. Glenn “G.T.” Thompson, R-15th, disagrees with the additional $600 per week in supplemental unemployment funds disbursed by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that furloughed workers receive on top of unemployment benefits.

He said the windfall has created workforce issues because it does not incentivize employees to return to work.

“The whole thing was rather rushed,” Thompson said.

He said proposals are afoot at the federal level to incentivize people to go back to work.

Fear caused by the virus, Thompson said, will create a lag in people getting back to normal life, which would in turn re-engage the economy.

He said the paper checks and debit cards to pay individuals their stimulus money created issues as some recipients have thrown them away or cut them up thinking they were from credit card companies because the return address was not listed as the Internal Revenue Service, nor was there any indication on the plain envelopes of what was inside.

“There are some who have cut up $1,200,” Thompson said. “We are working to get those replaced.”

Thompson touted several ongoing federal programs to aid various sectors in the pandemic, including the federal Paycheck Protection Program, $16 million in CARES Act funds for agriculture, liability protection for companies against frivolous lawsuits, support for universities and funding for hospitals and health care providers.

He said federal legislators are now working on economic recovery programs and talking with the Trump administration about supporting conventional gas and oil companies that have been affected by suppressed gas and energy prices during the pandemic.

“It's going to be a long road back for these folks,” Thompson said. “That's a legacy industry that we created here in Pennsylvania and I'm concerned a lot of these small businesses are not going to survive.”

U.S Rep. Mike Kelly, R-16th, also expressed concern over the amounts of unemployment compensation for furloughed workers.

“All of these programs are well-intentioned,” Kelly said, “but they make it more attractive to be unemployed than employed.”

Kelly said legislators are trying to come up with incentives to get people back to work, so the economy can recover.

“It used to be that having a job was the incentive,” Kelly said. “This idea that one size fits all was not the right way to go.”

He also took Wolf to task for his handling of the pandemic, saying people getting back to work and paying taxes provides a revenue stream for the state.

Kelly also briefly discussed grain-oriented electrical steel, which is produced in the U.S. exclusively by AK Steel's Butler Works.

He said the market is currently being infiltrated by foreign countries.

Grain-oriented steel is used in the transformers that are an important part of the country's electrical grid.

“When you rely on foreign-only products, we are in damn big trouble,” he said.

Regarding COVID-19, Kelly — who has been recovered from the virus for six weeks — said he knows some people are still afraid to leave their houses.

He said a decreased media focus on a potential second wave of the virus, plus more aggressive communication of the guidelines on how to avoid COVID-19, would go a long way toward easing people's minds and re-engaging them in the economy.

“From a federal standpoint, I don't know how you outlaw fear,” Kelly said.

Like all the law makers, Kelly lamented the cancellations of fairs and festivals across Pennsylvania.

Thompson agreed, and further called out Wolf for attending a rally in Philadelphia earlier in the week, yet encouraging counties to consider canceling annual summer fairs and festivals.

“We'll call 'em county protests and you could have thousands of people there and the governor will come out to participate,” he said.

State Rep. Marci Mustello, R-11th, said she visited United Plate Glass in Connoquenessing Township as well as other businesses to talk with employers about their needs in unprecedented times.

Mustello also participated in a teleconference call with Russell Redding, state secretary of agriculture, plus many local farmers in her capacity as a member of the House Agricultural and Rural Affairs Committee.

She is also working with AK Steel, now owned by Cleveland-Cliffs of Ohio, to keep Butler Works vibrant.

Mustello said it is also imperative that Butler County Community College is financially supported in these times.

“All of those graduates find employment in our small businesses,” she said.

Audience questions related to the pandemic, but also the nationwide uprising and unrest after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis as a police knelt on his neck.

Hutchinson called the situation a tragedy.

“Public uprising is democracy,” he said. “It is people voicing their concern.”

But he said looting, violence and arson is unacceptable.

“We do have to do our very best to end institutional racism within whatever institution that is,” Hutchinson said.

The protests came as those who had sheltered in place were beginning to emerge from their homes and then retreated in the face of potential rioting, he said.

“We thought it was safe to go back out again. But now there's another reason to stay inside,” Hutchinson said of the growing unrest and looting seen in cities across the state and nation. “That's a very sad situation.”

Mustello said contrary to Wolf's call for statewide policing reforms in the wake of the unrest after Floyd's death, local leaders and law enforcement should decide how to handle protests or uprisings within their own communities.

“I think we can do it here in Butler County just fine,” she said.

All panelists agreed that businesses reopening and employees returning to work is the best prescription for returning to normal.

“We need to start with restarting this tremendous economic engine,” Thompson said.

Organized by chamber in partnership with the Butler County Tourism & Convention Bureau and the Community Development Corporation of Butler County, the 2020 “State of the Commonwealth” was sponsored by XTO Energy, Pennsylvania American Water, the Butler County Manufacturing Consortium, Gateway Engineers and FirstEnergy. Corp.