HARRISBURG — Late last Thursday evening, Tiffany Kuhn was at her home outside Harrisburg reading an e-book on her cell phone when a notification popped up that she had an email from Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration.

When she opened her inbox, Kuhn said, her blood pressure “went through the roof.” The letter from the administration, sent at 9:30 p.m., informed her that the waiver she had received six weeks earlier to operate her mobile notary business during the pandemic had suddenly, and without explanation, been rescinded.

Kuhn’s waiver was revoked by the Department of Community and Economic Development, which has overseen the much-criticized process of awarding exemptions to thousands of companies across Pennsylvania that applied for the right to remain open despite Wolf’s business shutdown order.

The timing has raised suspicions among business owners and some GOP lawmakers. Just hours before the administration disclosed the first details about which businesses received waivers, state officials were still revoking exemptions without explanation, according to several interviews with business owners.