The governors of seven mostly Midwestern states, including Minnesota, have formed a coalition to coordinate easing restrictions to reopen the economies they’ve shuttered in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Gov. Tim Walz joined with the following governors in making the joint announcement: Democrats Tony Evers of Wisconsin; Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan; J.B. Pritzker, Illinois, and Andy Beshear of Kentucky; and Republicans Mike DeWine of Ohio and Eric Holcomb of Indiana.
The move comes on the heels of similar coalitions formed by governors on both the east and west coasts, as state chief executives have found themselves under pressure to allow commerce to resume yet on their own as far as guidance in the absence of a nationwide plan.
The new Midwest coalition released four criteria that they’ll examine closer as they weigh how to proceed:
- Sustained control of the rate of new infections and hospitalizations.
- Enhanced ability to test and trace.
- Sufficient health care capacity to handle resurgence.
- Best practices for social distancing in the workplace.
“Phasing in sectors of our economy will be most effective when we work together as a region,” the governors said jointly. “This doesn’t mean our economy will reopen all at once, or that every state will take the same steps at the same time. But close coordination will ensure we get this right. Over time, people will go back to work, restaurants will reopen, and things will go back to normal. We look forward to working together as one region to tackle this challenge together.”
Those markers are generally consistent with what Walz has said recently, and they’re in line with a series of markers laid down by some national experts.
They’re also similar in thinking a new set of guidelines issued by the White House Thursday afternoon as mileposts to pass before beginning a three-phase reopening.
POLITICAL OVERTONES
The creation of coalitions of states is a remarkable development for a nation that since its inception has grappled with the balance of power between the federal government and those of the states. In recent years, as political discourse and fault lines have become nationalized in media and social networks, the role of governors have generally diminished.
Yet the dynamic of the pandemic within American politics has led to governors finding themselves solely at the helm of each state’s ship. At least once weekly, all 50 governors participate in a national conference call. That appears to have contributed to a level of solidarity among them, even across party lines, that’s been enhanced by what many see as a vacuum of assistance from the Trump administration and federal agencies.
Most, if not all, states have had some form of pandemic response plans in place since the mid 2000s, when SARS, avian influenza and swine flu outbreaks emanated from Asia. Among those plans was a widespread acceptance that direction, testing and excess medical supplies would come from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the White House, and other federal assets, perhaps including the military.
But what has materialized from federal agencies has left many governors feeling underwhelmed. Promises of widespread testing have fallen short, and the national stockpile of personal protective equipment was exhausted quickly as the virus spread unabated.
On numerous occasions, Walz has recalled a governors’ conference call with President Donald Trump in March where Trump instructed governors to go out and obtain their own supplies of personal protective equipment such as masks, face shields and gloves. The directive set up a marketplace where states found themselves in bidding wars with other states, as well as the federal government itself, which was buying supplies to distribute to states but unable to keep up with demand.
Through it all were mixed messages from Trump himself. He expressed a desire to return to normal by Easter but then issued a national guidance — but not an order — that many interpreted as a stay-at-home request until May 1.
Earlier in the week, the eastern states of Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island formed a “multi-state coalition,” while California, Oregon and Washington established a “Western States Pact.”
On Tuesday, Walz opined on the idea of something similar in the Midwest, describing a “a loose articles of confederation,” a phrase that hearkens to the original 13 colonies’ precursor to the U.S. Constitution.
MIDWEST, NOT UPPER MIDWEST
Notably absent from the new coalition are several of Minnesota’s neighbors: Iowa, South Dakota and North Dakota — all of which share more with Minnesota than does Kentucky. All three states have Republican governors who have resisted issuing official stay-at-home orders. Only Nebraska and Arkansas in the U.S. are with those three states in having no such orders in place statewide.
Walz was unavailable Thursday to discuss the matter, but when Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm was asked, she responded that either Walz or his chief of staff were in regular communications with the offices of Governors Kim Reynolds of Iowa, Kristi Noem of South Dakota, and Doug Burgum of North Dakota.
The virus hasn’t exacted a high cost in rural parts of the nation’s interior compared with more densely populated areas, and an impatience is brewing in some quarters, especially among conservatives who support Trump and appear to have a distrust for public institutions. Protesters demanding the lifting of restrictions massed this week in Kentucky, North Carolina and Michigan.
In Minnesota, a group gathered outside the Governor’s Residence in St. Paul Thursday, and a “Liberate Minnesota” demonstration was planned for Friday.
Minnesota is currently under a number of orders from Walz, including a stay-at-home directive and orders that have closed schools and restricted restaurants and bars to take-out only service. All the orders are set to expire May 4.