Regionalism in Action: Interstate Partnerships
State by state, the US economy is slowly continuing to reopen after most states shut down abruptly in mid March. In April, as governors started to discuss what reopening in their states may look like, three interstate partnerships were formed. The goal of these partnerships is to protect public health and restore the economy through a regional approach.
These partnerships were formed with the understanding that the virus does not stop at the border of any state. To combat this, nineteen state governors formed three different regional partnerships as a strategy to a safe reopening. The White House had indicated to the state governments that the reopening would be left largely to them, thus many states wanted to create a larger framework to reopen. With very few federal guidelines on how to reopen as a nation, many states moved to coordinate in regions.
Interstate partnerships is one strategy that some states are using as a part of their reopening process. Read more about what reopening looks like state to state here.
What states have formed partnerships?
On April 13, a group of states from the West Coast, consisting of California, Oregon and Washington, and a group of states from the Northeast, consisting of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, formed interstate partnerships to inform their COVID-19 reopening strategies. Shortly after, Midwest states Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Minnesota announced they would partner in restarting their economies through phases. On April 27, Colorado and Nevada joined the West Coast partnership. Together, these nineteen states make up nearly half of the US population.
How are these partnerships working?
While each partnership works differently, the idea is that each interstate partnership will stay in communication with each other and each will follow a general framework for the region’s reopening process, while each individual state will have their own state specific plan. Governor Brown of Oregon explained that the idea to the interstate partnership is that even if each state wasn’t taking the same steps, if they created a shared framework and “that [they] were at least holding hands”, all of the states would all be better off.
In the press releases that explained the partnerships when they were first announced, each regional coalition said the following about how these partnerships will inform their states reopening:
While each state is building a state-specific plan, each of the three states in the West Coast partnership have agreed to the same principles to inform their decision making in reopening. The core principles to reopening the economies in the West Coast states consisted of:
1.) Health of the residents coming first,
2.) Science, not politics will guide decision making and
3.) Ensure collaboration and communication with local communities
The partnership’s goals consist of protecting vulnerable populations, ensuring the ability to care for the infected, mitigating non-direct COVID-19 health impacts, and creating systems for testing, tracking and isolating.
The Northwest state coalition was created with the recognition that each of the seven states form a regional economy, and that every decision each state makes for itself has consequences for the entire region. The group tasked with coordination between the states consist of one health expert, one economic development expert and the respective chief of staff from each state. This is the only interstate partnership that specifically states that an economic development professional will be part of the decision making process. As a partnership, the states jointly purchased essential medical equipment such as ventilators and PPE to help bring down costs and avoid potential price gouging.
Compared to the Northeast and West Coast state coalitions, the Midwest partnership is less clear cut. In the statement announcing the partnership, the governors of the Midwest partnership stated that they will coordinate their reopenings of the state economies through phases. The governors did make it clear that this partnership does not mean that every state will take the steps at the same time, but more that each state will be in communication with each other throughout the reopening process.
Informal Partnerships
Although not formal partnerships, Maryland’s governor, Virginia’s governor, and Washington DC’s mayor hold regular calls and have formed an informal alliance to phase in reopening of the economy in the DMV (DC/Maryland/Virginia) area. In addition, the states of New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont have remained in contact although they have not formed a formal partnership nor are they a part of the Northeast formal partnership.