Charlie Baker Not Among Governors In Weekend Coronavirus Summit For Northeast States
(State House News Service) -- New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo convened an emergency coronavirus response summit of northeastern state governors over the weekend, but Gov. Charlie Baker was not among the attendees.
"We had a productive meeting today to discuss policies as we enter the next stage of the COVID crisis," Cuomo tweeted Sunday, tagging New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and Delaware Gov. John Carney and offering up a screenshot of their virtual summit.
Calling COVID-19 policy alignment among states ideal, Cuomo on Friday said he had called governors from the states surrounding New York to participate in an emergency summit this weekend. The summit, he said, would involve six northeastern states, their governors and their staffs.
"The teams have been working together," Cuomo said. "We want to make sure that we can align policies as much as possible, or at least be aware of what the other states' policies are. The ideal is alignment. That is not a reality because different states do have different situations and they're in different positions. But we believe we're going to have to be taking additional steps and to the extent we can share information and align action, we'll do that."
Keller @ Large: Gov. Baker Frustrated, Calls Remote Learning 'Less That Satisfactory Solution For Kids'
Gov. Baker did not participate due to a scheduling conflict, according to an aide.
"Governor Baker and members of the Baker-Polito Administration regularly collaborate with other Northeast states regarding regional strategies to fight COVID-19," spokeswoman Sarah Finlaw said in a statement. "The Administration is monitoring public health data and has recently put in place additional targeted measures to stop the spread of the virus including a stay at home advisory, early closures and a strengthened mask order, and at this time has no plans to make immediate changes to our current public health protocols."
Baker's office as of 9:45 a.m. Monday had not released a daily schedule for the governor.
(© Copyright 2020 State House News Service)