In case you missed it, recent articles fromNational Review and Commentary Magazine detail how Governor Hogan is continuing to provide a national leadership model in confronting the pandemic. In the absence of a national testing strategy, Governor Hogan has formed a bipartisan interstate compact to “stimulate demand” for accurate and “rapid-detection antigen tests.”
Governor Hogan has also provided a model on school reopening, allowing a “granular and flexible” approach that is based on “expert advice” – not the whims of national politics or “overzealous bureaucrats.”
As Matthew Continetti notes in his piece, “few politicians have navigated the coronavirus pandemic as ably as Maryland’s Larry Hogan.”
Read The Commentary Article Here: “Few politicians have navigated the coronavirus pandemic as ably as Maryland’s Larry Hogan. A study released in late July found that 76 percent of his state approved of the way the two-term Republican has handled the outbreak—the best rating of any governor and some 26 points higher than the national average
Throughout the crisis, Hogan has relied heavily on expert advice. And he’s delegated authority, including over schools, to localities. The state’s largest school district, Montgomery County, announced on July 21 that public schools would be closed through January 29, 2021. Ten days after the announcement, however, Hogan’s strategy came close to backfiring. Why? Because a Montgomery County health official forced private schools to close as well, at least until October.
Within hours, Hogan denounced the move on Twitter. And by August 3, he had issued a new executive order denying local officials the ability to make such sweeping decisions. ‘Private and parochial schools deserve the same opportunity and flexibility to make reopening decisions based on public health guidelines,’ he said in a statement. ‘The blanket closure imposed by Montgomery County was overly broad and inconsistent with the powers intended to be delegated to the county health officer.
Translation: The fate of private schools will be decided on a case-by-case basis, as events warrant….Of course there is no single answer. Which is why the debate over school reopening should be granular and flexible. We should be open to not only different approaches but also different types of schools. Overzealous bureaucrats never seem to learn that they shouldn’t interfere in the upbringing of children. And Larry Hogan won an early victory in a fight that will matter to voters in 2024.”
Read The National Review Article Here: “Seven states have come together to create a purchasing deal for rapid-detection antigen tests. Governors from Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and Louisiana have together ordered 3.5 million antigen tests (500,000 each) with backing from the Rockefeller Foundation. The bipartisan effort will stimulate demand for the rapid being produced by the companies Quidel Corp. and Becton Dickinson.
More, faster testing is key to slowing the spread of the virus. Governor Larry Hogan (R., Md.), a member of the coalition, told the Washington Post: ‘With severe shortages and delays in testing and the federal administration attempting to cut funding for testing, the states are banding together to acquire millions of faster tests to help save lives and slow the spread of COVID-19.’
As testing rises, results are stalling across the country with ten-day (or more) waits for results from backlogged national labs. As more states open up, these lags are becoming huge inconveniences…the seven-state coalition’s actions are commendable and should be emulated across the country. When it comes to COVID testing, faster is certainly better.”