Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) is stepping up to undo Gov. Josh Shapiro’s (D-PA) cancelation of Pennsylvania’s involvement in the Great American State Fair on the National Mall.
In a press release from McCormick, it was revealed that he and Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) were announcing “a coalition of Pennsylvania organizations” that will ensure that the state has a presence at the event organized by Freedom 250 —which runs from June 25-July 10. The announcement also came “after working in coordination” with Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins.
The effort to ensure that Pennsylvania is represented at the Great American State Fair was also noted to be “made possible entirely through private partnerships” and without using taxpayer money.
The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, PennAg Industries Association, the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association, along with The Manufacturer & Business Association (MBA) were revealed to have joined McCormick and Fetterman “in this effort.”
“Pennsylvania is where America’s story began, and there was no way we were going to let the Commonwealth go unrepresented during our Nation’s 250th birthday celebration,” McCormick said. “As the birthplace of American independence, home to the hallowed grounds of Gettysburg, and the engine for the arsenal of democracy, Pennsylvania has a special responsibility to preserve, celebrate, and share that enduring legacy.”
“Celebrating America’s 250th birthday and Pennsylvania’s special role in our country is important and bipartisan,” Fetterman said in a statement. “We discovered our Commonwealth wasn’t participating in the Great American State Fair on the National Mall and we should be.”
The press release from McCormick comes after Shapiro shared in an interview with The New Republic that his office had gotten opinions from “businesses about Trump’s gala.” Shapiro also shared that aides from his office worked with the Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce to find businesses to participate in the event celebrating the 250th birthday of the United States, adding that “none were interested.”
“It reflects this sad state of affairs that we find ourselves in—that the president has politicized this to a degree that businesses don’t want to participate,” Shapiro told the outlet.
