Gov. Cuomo – Talks Economic Restart

Gov. Andrew Cuomo Conducts Public Conference Call with Governors from the Northeast Region

Governor Andrew Cuomo held a public conference call with the governors of New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and Delaware. Cuomo has consistently said that he wants to begin planning for the safe reopening of businesses and schools in conjunction with New Jersey and Connecticut, home to hundreds of thousands of workers who commute to New York City.

During the call, Governor Cuomo indicated that it appears New York has hit a plateau in the COVID-19 crisis and we need to begin to discuss a re-opening of the economy but it needs to be done regionally and in consultation with public health experts.

The Governor announced that each State will develop a working group to discuss how to handle the re-opening of the economy and give recommendations to each Governor on how to proceed, recognizing that while there will be some differences in each State, it will at the very least be coordinated.  The 18-person council (total – a public health official and an economic development official from each state, and each Governor’s Chief of Staff) will begin discussing the issue tomorrow and provide recommendations within several weeks.

All the Governor’s agreed that they cannot have different rules for re-opening the economy from surrounding states without having serious business implications.  All involved in the call also agreed that the plan must proceed slowly and safely and not create further health risks.