Cuomo Announces 'Coordinated' Effort Among Northeastern States To Reopen Economy
Declaring “the worst is over” in New York City’s fight against the coronavirus, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday that he and the Democratic governors of nearby states will develop a regional plan for reopening the economy.
Cuomo initially announced that he would work with New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Delaware.
His office later announced that it would add Massachusetts, led by a Republican, to the coalition, according to The New York Times.
On the west coast, the Democratic governors of California, Washington and Oregon also said they would develop a regional plan, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“No one has done this before — it’s one step forward after research and consultation with experts,” Cuomo said, adding that the states in the northeast coalition would “study the data, study the research, study the experience of other countries and give us guidelines and parameters to go forward.”
“Let’s be smart and let’s be cooperative and let’s learn from one another,” he said.
“We should start looking forward to ‘reopening,’ but reopening with a plan and a smart plan because if you do it wrong, it can backfire,” the governor added, according to Fox News.
“What the art form is going to be here is doing that smartly and doing that productively and doing that in a coordinated way — in coordination with other states in the area and doing it as a cooperative effort where we learn from each other where we share information, share resources, where we share intelligence.”
Cuomo said that the states will form a working group that will include an economic development official and a health official from each state.
His announcement came the same day that President Donald Trump tweeted his stand on who determines when the economy reopens.
“For the purpose of creating conflict and confusion, some in the Fake News Media are saying that it is the Governors decision to open up the states, not that of the President of the United States & the Federal Government,” Trump tweeted.
“It is the decision of the President, and for many good reasons. With that being said, the Administration and I are working closely with the Governors, and this will continue.”
….It is the decision of the President, and for many good reasons. With that being said, the Administration and I are working closely with the Governors, and this will continue. A decision by me, in conjunction with the Governors and input from others, will be made shortly!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 13, 2020
Cuomo had his own spin on the issue.
Trump “left it to states to close down without any guidance, really,” Cuomo said, according to the New York Daily News.
“He took the position it was the states’ decision, they were responsible for purchasing supplies, etc., that was the management for this emergency. If they want to change the model, they can change the model. He is the president of the United States. It’s civics 101,” he added.
In discussing the federal role in reopening the economy, Newsom said, “I have all the confidence in the world moving forward that we will maintain that collaborative spirit in terms of the decision-making that we make here within the state of California as it relates to a road map for recovery and road map to get back to some semblance of normalcy.”
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