Western States Pact

The Western States Pact is an interstate compact between five western states in the United States to coordinate the rollback of economic restrictions implemented by the state governments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Agreement

In announcing the Western States Pact on April 13, 2020, California, Oregon and Washington governors Gavin Newsom, Kate Brown, and Jay Inslee jointly announced that "COVID-19 doesn’t follow state or national boundaries. It will take every level of government, working together, and a full picture of what’s happening on the ground."[1]

The agreement was made with four goals:

  • Protecting populations that are vulnerable (such as those in senior homes)
  • Maintaining an acceptable supply of personal protective equipment in hospitals
  • Mitigating poverty and unavailability of healthcare caused by the pandemic
  • Connecting the rollback of economic restrictions with a method to track the transmission of the virus[2]

On April 27, Colorado governor Jared Polis and Nevada governor Steve Sisolak announced their states would join the Western States Pact, with the latter noting the importance of information sharing.[3]

Timeline

On April 30, 2020, research and education networks from the states involved, such as the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research's Front Range GigaPop, Nevada System of Higher Education's NevadaNet, CENIC, Link Oregon, and the Pacific Northwest Gigapop, announced they would be joining the shared approach under the Western States Pact and would be offering ultra-broadband research and education telecommunications networks and services to support the Western States Pact.[4]

On May 11, the Western States Pact released a letter, signed by the governors and state legislative leaders of all five states, to Congress requesting $1 trillion in aid to help deal with the financial effects of the coronavirus. The letter states that the aid would "preserve core government services like public health, public safety, public education and help people get back to work. It would help our states and cities come out of this crisis stronger and more resilient."[5][6]

On September 16, the governors of California, Oregon, and Washington announced a joint pilot project to test the COVID-19 Exposure Notification System developed by Apple and Google for mobile phones. If the pilot project is successful, these states would then plan to roll out the technology to all residents. Since Colorado and Nevada already have statewide Exposure Notification apps, all states in the Western States Pact would then be participants in the system.[7][8]

On October 27, the governors of Nevada, Oregon, and Washington announced that their states would join California's COVID-19 Scientific Safety Review Workgroup. This workgroup would provide the Western States Pact with a coordinated review of any potential COVID-19 vaccine, independent of the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA).[9]

On November 13, California, Oregon, and Washington issued a joint travel advisory, encouraging residents to avoid non-essential travel and urging people arriving from other states to self-quarantine for 14 days.[10][11]

On December 14, the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup analyzed safety and efficacy data for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The workgroup unanimously recommended authorization of the vaccine for emergency use, allowing California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington to proceed with vaccination campaigns without delay.[12] On December 20, the workgroup also recommended authorization of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.[13]

On March 3, 2021, the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup recommended authorization of the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine.[14]

Parties
  Eastern States Multi-state Council
  Midwest Governors Regional Pact
  Western States Pact
State Governor Accession
 California Gavin Newsom April 13, 2020
 Colorado Jared Polis April 27, 2020
 Nevada Steve Sisolak April 27, 2020
 Oregon Kate Brown April 13, 2020
 Washington Jay Inslee April 13, 2020
Sources:[15][16]

Reactions

Shortly after the Western States Pact and northeastern states announced their own joint plans on April 13, 2020, U.S. president Donald Trump asserted his "total authority" over the states' decisions about when to lift the shutdowns implemented in response to the pandemic.[17] After criticism from both Democratic and Republican members of Congress, Trump clarified on April 14 that he would be "authorizing each individual governor of each individual state to implement a reopening" of their economy. However, Cornell Law School professor Kathleen Bergin said, "Trump has no authority [...] These are matters for states to decide under [...] the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution."[18]

After Hawaiian business leaders and state House Speaker Scott Saiki encouraged joining the Western States Pact, governor David Ige said he considered joining the pact but decided not to because Hawaii did not share a land boundary with the member states of the pact.[19]

See also

References
  1. Luna, Taryn (April 13, 2020). "California, Oregon and Washington to work together on plan to lift coronavirus restrictions". Los Angeles Times. Sacramento. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  2. Segers, Grace; O'Keefe, Ed; Navarro, Aaron (April 15, 2020). "States move forward with coordinating coronavirus response after Trump backs down". CBS News. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  3. Klar, Rebecca (April 27, 2020). "Colorado and Nevada join western states cooperating on reopening". The Hill. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  4. "UCAR JOINS PARTNERS TO OFFER NETWORK SUPPORT TO COVID-19 WESTERN STATES PACT". National Center for Atmospheric Research. April 30, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  5. Mossburg, Cheri (May 11, 2020). "Western States Pact asks federal government for $1 trillion in relief". CNN. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  6. "Western States Pact Urges Federal Support for States and Cities Responding to COVID-19 Pandemic". Office of Governor Gavin Newsom. May 14, 2020. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  7. "Washington and Oregon Join California in Pilot Project Using Google and Apple Exposure Notification Technology to Slow the Spread of COVID-19". Office of Governor Gavin Newsom. September 16, 2020. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
  8. Blethen, Ryan (September 24, 2020). "University of Washington to test smartphone technology that tells you if you were exposed to the coronavirus; here's how it works". The Seattle Times. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
  9. "Western States Join California's Scientific Safety Review Workgroup to Ensure Safety of COVID-19 Vaccine". Office of Governor Gavin Newsom. October 27, 2020. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  10. "California, Oregon, Washington issue virus travel advisories". AP News. November 13, 2020. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  11. Hawkins, Mackenzie (November 13, 2020). "West Coast states issue travel advisory ahead of Thanksgiving week". Politico. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  12. Hubbard, Kaia (December 14, 2020). "Western States Group Affirms Pfizer's Coronavirus Vaccine Is Based on Health – Not Politics". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  13. Rietmulder, Michael (December 20, 2020). "Gov. Jay Inslee announces Western states approval of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine". Seattle Times. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  14. "Western States Workgroup approves Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine". KATU. March 3, 2021. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
  15. Reston, Maeve; Sgueglia, Kristina; Mossburg, Cheri (April 13, 2020). "Governors on East and West coasts form pacts to decide when to reopen economies". CNN. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  16. Perano, Ursula (April 27, 2020). "Colorado and Nevada join Western states in coronavirus reopening pact". Axios. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  17. White, Jeremy B. (April 13, 2020). "Trump claims 'total authority' over state decisions". Politico. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  18. Wise, Alana (April 14, 2020). "Trump Falsely Claimed 'Total' Authority Over States — Now He's Backpedaling". NPR. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  19. Ryan Finnerty (April 28, 2020). "Maui Business Leaders Push To Join Western States Pact, Ige Demurs". Hawaii Public Radio.
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