Governors get together over reopening the economy

The governors of Delaware, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island gathered Monday in a teleconference to announce a regional panel that will study how best to reopen the economy and the schools.

Governor Cuomo, leading the effort, announced the creation of the panel, which will comprise three representatives from each state — a health official, an economic official and the chief of staff of each governor. The governors are calling it a regional advisory council, which will not have decision-making power, but rather will help formulate plans for a regional approach to reopening that are subject to the governors’ approval.

“New York believes we have reached a plateau” of new coronavirus cases, Cuomo said. “This is relatively good news in a world of bad options.”

With cases leveling off, he said, it is time to begin planning for the day when businesses are allowed to resume operations and students may return to classes.

New Jersey Gov. Philip Murphy said the regional approach would help avoid “inadvertent and unintended consequences,” referring to the possibility that Covid-19 cases might climb again if people were to go back to work without adequate guidelines and insufficient preparation.

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said the coronavirus spread along his state’s Intersate-95 corridor, otherwise known as its commuter corridor. The virus, he appeared to suggest, was spread by commuters in and out of New York City.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said a regional approach to reopening the economy is vital. “We all know we can do anything better when we work together,” he said. “We need to do this right.”

He said he believed the seven-state approach would become a model for reopening regional economies across the country.

Delaware Gov. John Carney said the key question is, “How do we reopen things in a way that’s safe?” 

“The state boundaries,” he noted, “mean very little to this virus.”

The objective, Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo said, is to “develop new guidelines for this new normal.” 

All of the governors are Democrats.

The announcement came after President Trump over the weekend signaled that he believes he will be the arbiter of when the economy will reopen.