Blue and Red States Must Work Together to Reopen

Yesterday, six governors from a string of contiguous eastern seaboard states stretching from Rhode Island to Delaware announced that they would form a working group to cooperate on reopening businesses in the region. This kind of state-level coordination is much needed. The federal government hasn’t taken the lead in ordering coronavirus lockdowns, and so it won’t take the lead in reopening economies.

But the composition of the working group is also a little worrisome — because it reveals the potential effects of partisan politics in efforts to fight Covid-19. The original group included Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania in addition to Rhode Island and Delaware. But why weren’t Massachusetts and New Hampshire to the immediate north initially included, or Maryland to the immediate south? What about Vermont, which adjoins New York, or Ohio and West Virginia, which adjoin Pennsylvania? It’s not because they don’t share common challenges and interests in fighting the coronavirus.