How will we reopen states? Donna Shalala and other Democrats have national plan

As President Donald Trump fights with a group of governors over who has the power to lift stay-at-home orders across the country, House Democrats led by Miami Rep. Donna Shalala are drafting a plan of their own.

Shalala and a group of House Democrats, including Maryland Rep. and constitutional law professor Jamie Raskin, plan on Friday to introduce the Reopen America Act, a bill that would establish a comprehensive national proposal for reopening America’s economy — and ensuring it stays open by relying on science to determine when to lift social distancing measures.

Instead of states reopening piecemeal, the Reopen America Act would give states money if they meet a national standard for reopening that would include more testing and protective equipment to make sure infection rates don’t rise. It would also create a federal board to set up widespread testing and push companies to manufacture needed equipment.

The lawmakers said the goal of establishing a national standard is to make sure that states don’t reopen too soon, leading to higher infection and death rates and longer negative economic impacts for the entire country.

“We reject the false framing of this moment as a choice between public health and economic health,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to colleagues on Capitol Hill. “Though expensive, widespread testing and public health safeguards will allow for more rapid and extensive reopening of economic life and reduced risk of mass outbreaks and re-closure down the road.”

The bill would allow U.S. states and territories to submit a reopening plan to the secretary of Health and Human Services for approval. If approved, a state would get reimbursed by the federal government for the cost of meeting the national standard.

“Congress will provide the financial, scientific and logistical support necessary to allow states to safely reopen their economies after this period of self-isolation and economic shutdown,” the letter from Shalala, Raskin, New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, California Rep. Anna Eshoo and Vermont Rep. Peter Welch said. “Without federal coordination and resources, cash-strapped state governments will be unable to undertake reopening in an effective and sustained way.”

The letter is being circulated on Capitol Hill and the bill is expected to be officially introduced on Friday.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Monday that the House of Representatives will not reconvene until at least May 4, though legislation can still be approved through unanimous consent and lawmakers could be called back to Washington at any time to vote on coronavirus-related legislation.

Shalala, who served as Health and Human Services secretary during the Clinton administration, said the bill is important because it establishes a “specific criteria” for states to reopen. Throughout March and April, governors around the country instituted their own stay-at-home orders, though seven states never implemented one.

The bill is being introduced as two groups of governors, one group from the East Coast and the other from the West Coast, announced plans for interstate coalitions to determine when their economies should reopen. Trump is opposed to the plan, and falsely asserted Monday that he alone has the power to determine when states can reopen.

“It is the decision of the President, and for many good reasons,” Trump tweeted on Monday. “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!”

Trump tweeted after governors announced an East Coast reopening coalition consisting of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts and a West Coast coalition of California, Oregon and Washington.

“Health outcomes and science — not politics — will guide these decisions,” Govs. Gavin Newsom of California, Kate Brown of Oregon and Jay Inslee of Washington said in a joint statement.

The Reopen America Act follows a similar approach.

States must be able to show that social distancing has lowered infection rates enough to allow hospitals to properly care for the infected population. And states must have enough public safeguards in place to keep transmission rates very low — meaning that each person with the virus must, on average, transmit it to no more than one person.

Once states are able to show their infection rates are low enough, Congress would step in to provide money for reopening.

The third component of the bill creates a federal Health Equipment Production Board to mobilize production of enough tests for large-scale testing, more protective equipment and ventilators. Currently, states must acquire medical equipment and testing supplies on their own, creating a competition for resources.

“If necessary, [the bill] reimburses states that collaborate with each other to spur industry to scale up the necessary supplies,“ the letter said.

This story was originally published April 14, 2020 at 11:16 AM.