Written by Ainsley Jackman
Over three months ago, Gov. Newsom gathered big names from multiple industries to create an economic task force for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Their purpose was to “craft ideas for short, medium, and long-term solutions” and guide California through a safe but speedy recovery from the pandemic.
Despite the powerful minds apparently at work within the task force, it’s hard to pinpoint anything productive they’ve done thus far. In fact, the task force has been so secretive when it comes to what it’s actually doing that the public has begun to question if they’ve done anything at all. State Senator Melissa Melendez captures this sense recently, saying “I don’t think it’s appropriate that three months later we still don’t know what they’re working on.”
“I don’t think it’s appropriate that three months later we still don’t know what they’re working on,” @senatormelendez
Tell us, Governor. Where are the solutions you promised? CA’s struggling families & small businesses need answers. #CADeservesBetter https://t.co/VzzINVAdXP
— CAGOP (@CAGOP) July 27, 2020
But if the task force has taken on a larger role than it appears in steering Newsom’s the lockdown strategy, the results are hardly confidence-inspiring anyway. Health experts blame the second wave of infections we are experiencing now on California’s large-scale reopening early on in the pandemic. And the new shutdowns that came as a result are causing another round of job loss and failing businesses—they just can’t recover from the unpredictable opening and closing orders. Not to mention the disastrous effects shutting down in-person schooling will have.
Gov. Newsom and his task force failed to implement a consistent COVID-19 reaction plan like other states and countries have successfully done. Instead, an inconsistent back-and-forth strategy has both spiked infection numbers and further hindered our economy—the very opposite of what was promised us.
What’s more, he did all of this by ignoring the State Legislature and the power of local governments to push all of California into the disaster we’re experiencing. These inexcusable decisions largely prevented individual cities and counties from evaluating the best response for their individual situation and responding accordingly.
Newsom has proved through his reaction to the pandemic that he is all too willing to wrestle power from others to dictate state laws instead. He has set up a faulty system based on his own positions, rather than using the consistent science-based plans in consultation with localities, businesses, and families.
