Today address as number of important issues related to ovid19 testing. One issue we examined in this work, i hope we talk about today, is how we can make sure that we are best prepared for potential overlap of covid19 and influenza cases in the fall. Im looking forward to the conversation we are going to have today. I greatly appreciate all three of our witnesses and governors for taking time from their extremely busy schedules to be here. Made a lot of improvement over the last few months, our work is not done and as we continue to work on drafting more legislation responding to covid19 pandemic, it is especially important to hear state perspectives. I thank you. Yield back. Ms. Degette i thank the gentleman for yielding back. I would advise members in case you are unaware of this, there is a window on your screen that says one, two, three clock. This will count down from five minutes for each other statements or questioning. And then it will start going over. If thats not working for you, trying clicking on it. We hope it will work. The chair will recognize the chairman of the full committee, mr. Pallone, for five minutes for purposes of an opening statement. Mr. Pallone. Mr. Pallone i want to thank chairwoman degette for doing this. The chair woman has been very much involved during this covid crisis and doing some excellent oversight and investigation. So today i want to particularly thank you for that and for putting this together today. And i also want to mention the other coloradoans, Governor Polis, because i always love to see our former colleagues become governors or senators or president or whatever. And the other governors, too, for being with us today. We have had in my district several peaceful froasts over the last few days. I have been happy with the fact they have been peaceful and hopefully that continues in our state and throughout the country. But the hearing today is basically continuing our work to confront covid19 and to hear from governors about what more the federal government can and should be doing at helping our nations response. Its essential that we unite to combat this virus so that we can stabilize, protect communities, and safely reopen our economy. The only way we are going to do that is to coordinate a National Strategy that increases testing and dedicates sufficient resources to Contact Tracing surveillance and containment. Unfortunately, President Trump continues to refuse to put in place a National Strategy for moving forward. And its just the latest example, in my opinion, of the president s day is to properly recognize the crisis we face. At first the president scoffed at those raising the alarm of covid19 and insisted the virus would go warkse and then as the threat become undeniable, he refused any responsibility. For months he has failed to develop and implement a National Testing program with clear goals and plans for achieving them. This failure of leadership at the National Level has forced states to fend for themselves, oftentimes competing against each other on the open market for critical tests, personal protective equipment, ventilators, and other resources. States were bidding against each other which drives up prices for the resource that is would continue to be needed in the weeks and months ahead. This is not the way to combat a National Public health crisis. Of course being in new jersey, one of the hardest hit states, im particularly concerned about this, but i care about it for the whole country. The president continues, in my opinion, abdicate his responsibility. House democrats took bold action last month by passing the heroes act. It provides Critical Health care resources needed including up to 75 billion in grants to support robust testing, Contact Tracing, surveillance, and containment activities. The act finally requires the the heroes act finally requires the Trump Administration to have strategies for contrast tasting and surveillance provides greater temperatures in real time around supply, testing, and infaction rates and provides clear benchmarks and timelines and brings public accountability to this entire process. The heroes act also shores up the infrastructure by supplying much needed medical splice, and instill a medical supplies response czar. We ask the administration to provide clear accounting for the work being done in preparation for the manufacturing and distribution of a future vaccine and identify what more must be do to ensure the vaccine can be swiftly available to all needed. It also puts in place clear guidelines for how an additional 100 billion in resources for the Provider Relief Fund should be distributed and assure they are allocated to hospitals and Frontline Health care providers. Because the governors, i also want to mention the heroes act support states Medicaid Program by increasing the federal matching assistance percentage by 14 Percentage Points and increases federal paints for Medicaid Services for patients in homes and communitybased care. This is critical for states facing dire financial situation as a result of the pandemic and allows them to continue providing essential health care services. Governors, i havent mentioned we have direct aid for states and municipalities in the heroes act as well. Thats not in our jurisdiction but very important. It ensures all covid19 treatment is free without cost sharing for all americans so that nobody has to worry about the cost of getting treatment or vaccines. We had that in the cares act, the testing was free. Now the treatment and vaccine would be free as well. Obviously i think the senate should act on this because we are not going to be able to beat this virus without the heroes act efforts in place. I wanted to welcome the three governors who have all faced challenges in responding to this Public Health threat. As the committee continues its oversight under chairwoman degette and considers further legislative action, its important to hear from governors whats working, what isnt working, and what more they need either from the federal government or from congress. I know you guys are on the frontline. I know how important it is for us to help the governors in this state. Our committee will be fully cognizant as we proceed. Thank you again. I yield back. Chair degette i thank. Im now pleased to recognize the Ranking Member of the full committee, for five minutes. For purposes of an opening statement. Good morning, marylandam chair. Chair pallone, and to our governors, welcome. This is an important hearing. I want to say at the outset on a technical note apparently cspan has not been able to get the audio up for this hearing. So one of those things those trying to watch on cspan they are not going to be able to hear your Opening Statements, at least not yet. I was surprised to see accommodations were made so those of us in washington could meet here in our committee room. In approving the hearing the rules Committee Recommended such accommodations be made and the Health Subcommittee approved we could safely conduct our business in the this room. Several committees have held either in person or hybrid stale hearings, and many members of the subcommittee are here in washington today. I urge the chairman to continue to accommodate inperson participation of members Going Forward. I want to welcome the governors. With alt challenges we are facing as nation from the pandemic, we are discussing today, to the unrest in the wake of the tragic death of george floyd we deeply appreciate your making time to be with us today. States are what Justice Brandeis called laboratories of democracy. Testing different policies for their individual circumstances. I look forward to learning about your successes in responding to the pandemic. The remaining challenges. What you got right, what you got wrong. And how the state and federal partnership can be strengthened to ensure these challenges can be successfully addressed Going Forward. There is no question facing a once in a Century Global pandemic federal, state, and local Health Systems encountered difficulties in ramping up diagnostic testing, working out the logistical details of complex Global Supply change. However it is only fair to acknowledge that tremendous progress has been achieved over the last few weeks. The efforts of the white house, President Trump, federal agencies to get full visibility into various supply chains in a very short period of time, and then obtained necessary supplies for the nations testing and other needs, while competing for them globally with the rest of the world its been nothing short of remarkable undertaking. While federal officials such as dr. Brett and admiral john have been candid and open about the enormity of standing up a testing structure in the middle of a pandemic messagecy. Nearly every state is now in a better position to test anybody they have determined to be a high priority. Congress stepped up to the plate in the cares act and other stimulus packages with billions of dollars in funding per state to use for more testing and more Contact Tracing. These actions are getting results. Since the beginning of this pan democrat inc. , many experts have argued the u. S. Needs to reach a level of conducting 500,000 covid19 test as day. In may the United States achieved more than 400,000 tests a day several times. With more rapid point of care testing at home and saliva based testing and antigen testing are expected to be rolled out in the coming weeks. This benchmark is expected to rapidly increase. No question some states responded to this pandemic better than others both in focusing resources to address the Public Health crisis and positioning their states to responsibly reopen. For example, in arkansas i understand you already met the federally recommended goal of testing 2 of your population in a month for may. And aim to reach 3 to 4 monthly by june. Health and Human Services Strategic Plan projected by september the United States may be able to conduct up to 50 million tests per month for more than 1. 6 million tests per day. That more than 1. 6 million tests a day, the u. S. Would not only easily exceed the goal of half a million tests a day, but also surpass the Harvard Global Health Institutes recommendation of 900,000 tests per day to contain the outbreak. The h. H. S. Strategic plan on testing shows the serious and honest effort. It outlines a pathway toward providing more resources and assistance to states for more and better testing to manage risks and allow our economy to safely reopen. I thank all of our distinguished Witnesses Today for appearing. Especially want to express my appreciation to governor Asa Hutchison who on very short notice agreed to work this into his schedule. With that, madam chair, i yield back the balance of my time. I understand you wanted me to introduce governor hutchison. So im prepared to do that whenever youd like. Chair degette well do if in maint i thank the gentleman for yielding back. Madam chair. Had my hand up. Chair degette for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia rise . Point of cord. Since House Resolution 965 governs this meeting generally and section 4 specifically deals with proceedings in committee and section 4b puts limitations on business meetings, including, and i quote, a Committee Shall not conduct a meeting remotely or permit remote participation at a meeting under this section until a member of the committee smits for printing in the congressional record a letter from a majority of the members of the committee notifying the speaker that the requirements for conducting a meeting in regulations referred to sub section h have been met and that the committee is prepared to conduct a remote meeting and permit remote participation, end quote. And recognizes that the regulations promulgated in accordance with sub section 4h of House Resolution 965 in regulation section 1i the definition section, it states, and i quote, proceedings or Committee Proceedings refers to meetings, hearings, or depositions as appropriate, end quote. And in light of the full energy and Commerce Committee having failed to comply with these regulations submitted by the chairman of the rules committee in accordance with House Resolution 965, or even to comply with the letter requirements of section 4b of House Resolution 965, is it not true that these proceedings by whatever name cannot lawfully conduct business such as swearingin witnesses or even having code section 18 u. S. C. Section 1001 relating to perjury apply . Chair degette the chair thanks the gentleman for his parliamentary inquiry. H. R. 965 refers to business meetings not hearings. And the committee has met all of the requirements for regular earings under the house rules. Members written state Opening Statements be made part of the record. Without objection, so ordered. Id now like to introduce the witnesses for todays hearing. First id like to introduce governor jared polis, the governor of the state of colorado. No stranger to this committee or most of the members of this committee. The governor has been working very hard with the entire colorado congressional delegation, house and senate, democrats and republicans, on the coronavirus issue. And we appreciate it very, very much. I would now turn to congresswoman dingle to ntroduce her governor. Mrs. Dingell i thank you, madam chair. Challenging times depends on decisive and compassionate leaders. Im grateful for all the governors hear today and the dingell family has had strong history with all of them. Governor whitmer is such a leader. Im proud to introduce her today. Shes a lawyer, educator, a former prosecutor, and the lifelong michigander. Dedicated to public service. She is a close friend. The covid19 pandemic the numbers are devastating. Michigan has been hit harder than most states. We are the fourth highest in deaths in the country. Nearly two Million People unemployed. One in four. And lives have been forever changed. Throughout this pandemic Governor Whitmer has taken swift action to flatten the curve and block the spread of covid19. There is much that this committee can learn from how michigan has responded. And that the states begin the reopening phase there is much we need to learn on what challenges still remain, the resource that is are still needed, and the actions that we can take. I want to just make this personal comment that the governor is a friend. And after she saw the modeling number of the potential death that is could happen in michigan, she called me. She took personal responsibility for the potential death of everybody in our state. And shes been a true leader and im honored she accepted the invitation today. I thank all the governors for testifying today. We thank you for your service and leadership through these difficult times and we look forward to hearing all your valuable information. Thank you. I yield back. Mr. R degette now recognize walden to introduce our former colleague. Mr. Walden governor hutchison is freand to many of us. He was elect to the u. S. House in 19196 and served until president george w. Bush appointed him administrator of the Drug Enforcement administration. And later under secretary for border and transportation security at the u. S. Department f homeland security. Earlier in his year president reagan appointed him to the district of arkansas. He was first elected to governor of arkansas in 2014 and reelected in 2018. He and his wife have four children and six grandchildren. We thank him for taking time out of his very busy schedule to lend his experience and expertise to us on these issues. I do want to advise that the governor will have to leave the hearing today at 2 00 p. M. And i thank your indulgence for excusing him as a witness at that time. I know he had a precondict he couldnt get out of that. With that we are delighted asa could join us. I yield back. Chair degette the gentlemen and chairs are aware, governor hutchisons previous commitment. We are glad that you could join us, governor, along with your two colleagues. I know all three of you are aware the committees holding and investigative hearing. In doing so we have to practice of taking testimony under oath. Do any of you have any objections to testifying under oath . T the record reflect the witnesses have responded no. The chair then advises you under the rules of the house and committee, you are entitled to be accompanied by counsel. Do you desire to be accompanied by counsel during your testimony today . Let the record reflect the witnesses have responded no. I wont make you stand up but if all of you could please raise your righthand so you may be sworn in. Do you swear that the testimony you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth . Let the record reflect the witnesses have responded affirmatively. You are now under oath and subject to the penalty set forth in title 18 section 1001 of the United States code. The chair would now recognize our witnesses for five minute summary of their written statements. As i mentioned earlier, there is a timer on your screen that will count down your time. And it turns red when your five minutes have come to an end. Governor polis, well recognize you for five minutes. Chair pallone good morning. Thank you for the invitation to testify. Thank you, chairwoman degette, you have done an amazing job in this crisis and beyond. I appreciate this hearing. Thank you, Ranking Member guthrie, pleasure working with you. Great to see you in this capacity. Thank you to chairman pallone and Ranking Member walden and members of the committee. I want to provide an overview of the steps we have taken in colorado with the hope that some of the successful practice that is we have implemented here can be an example for other states, the federal government, other nations dealing with the coronavirus. We started by setting realistic goals. We know that given freedom of movement throughout the United States it would be impossible to eradicate the virus in colorado or america until there is a cure or vaccine. On the Public Health side our focus from the start has been to save lives by limiting the spread of the virus, protecting the most vulnerable, particularly older coloradoans in facilities. Supporting our health care providers. Making sure people have access to all forms of health care, including for noncovid related being health care, and doing everything we can to acquire testing equipment and personal Protection Equipment and be as smart as we can with the use of these limited resources. And as a benchmark making sure we preserve the ability of our Health Care System to meet the needs of every critical patient that comes through the door covid or noncovid not to overwhelm our Health Care System. On the economics side, we also understood from the early days the economic implications of this crisis and we have taken a number of extraordinary measures to help Small Businesses and workers and made strategy decision abouts reopening Strategic Decisions about reopening. The economic, social, and psychological needs of coloradoans and the health goals. We confirmed our first case in the beginning of march. We since found out like much of the country welike had covid before that in our state. And we began to take action to reduce the spread which was an exponential growth curve at that time. We needed to severely limit the number of person to person interactions to about 75 to 80 reduction from the normal baseline. On the other side, the models showed that taking no action the virus would have killed over 30,000 coloradoans by now. March 25 we imposed a stayathome order which lasted until april 26. That was very difficult decision to make. As a former Business Owner i know the effort it takes to keep Small Businesses profitable, even in good times. As governor of a state with the Fastest Growing economy in the nation, an amazing quality of life, it pained me greatly to to see coloradoans out of work. Stuck inside. Businesses closed. With that stayathome order was critical. To slow the spread of covid19. Including Critical Care beds and acquire more testing and p. P. E. Or our work force. We set up Response Team with seem of the best minds in the private sector who volunteered fulltime to help us work through the issues of the supply chain for tefingt and for p. P. E. A temporary moratorium on evictions and foreclosures. And taking steps to lift regulations like eliminating the prohibition on takeout and delivery of alcohol. We set a private relief fund to help colorado now. Org to help meet the needs of coloradoans across the state. Aim proud to say we raised over 18 million in fill will trap thropic, corporate, and individual donors. We convened in early days a council on economic stability and recovery chaired by denver mayor. The bipartisan council and Business Leaders across our state has already put forward recommendations for executive action, state legislation, and for federal consideration. Madam chair, i ask the letter from the colorado delegation dated april 9, 2020, be placed into the record and considered. Chair degette governor, we will hold that to the end. Announced at the beginning with all the other documents, thank you. Chair pallone as cases begin to level off and trend downward, we ended the stayathome order on april 27 and replaced it with safer at home. Safer at home allows for a greater degree of economic and social activity while keeping the rate of infection low. It has four main points, scaling up testing and capability, developing a mask wearing culture in our state to make person to person interaction safer, helping coloradoans with Underlying Health conditions. Including seniors. And greater social distancing in the general population. We have also expanded this month more outdoor opportunities for people to enjoy our great, vast outdoors at a safe social distance with our beauty colorado june and july weather. We encourage people to get out in a safe way at a distance from others. I have been straightforward and honest with the people of my state from the start there will be some level of social distancing restrictions. Until there is a cure or vaccine. We simply need to find a Sustainable Way to live with covid19. Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I look forward to answering your questions. Chair degette thank you, governor. Now im pleased Governor Whitmer to recognize you for five minutes for your opening statement. Governor whitmer thank you, chair degette. Ranking member guthrie, full house chair pallone, Ranking Member walden, and members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you about covid19 and the effect on the state of michigan and how we worked to confront this unprecedented Public Health crisis. Helpive dingell and walberg, thank you for your efforts on behalf of michigan. And governors polis and hutchison, glad to be with you. On march 10, date michigan confirmed our first cases of covid19 i declared a state of emergency. Michigan had a mixed struggle with covid19 pandemic because despite being the 10th most populous state we spent several weeks with the highest number of cases of death in the nation. As of today we recorded 57,000 positive cases and 5,500 covid19 related deaths. The response to the pandemic we have had to take aggressive measures to fight this covid19 to prevent the rapid depletion of our states Critical Health care resources and lower the chance of a devastating second coming. There was a time in march when the number of Metro Detroit lacked enough masks, mace a singlegowns, or ifn day. The federal government delaferede several allocations of p. P. E. From the Strategic National stockpile, but they were dangerously insufficient to meet our needs in the early days of the virus spread. During that same time, on a call with the nations governors, we were told we would have to precure these items on our own. Without time to waste we set up a Global Procurement arm. We tracked down every lead. Some handouts, some were dead ends. But in the heat of the nations early days and the National Strategy and failure to use the d. P. A. To produce p. P. E. , lives were on the line and necessitated these actions. By mid april our hard work of our procurement office, private donations, michigan businesses, and the assistance from fema, the state had p. P. E. To last for several weeks. That is true today. We are truly grave for the materials that we received. However, if federal supplies could be allocated more quickly with a detailed breakdown in advance and shipped over regular payments, we would be able to hit our goals and make sure we prevent a second wave. Absent a vaccine or cure, tracing and testing are the foundation of the covid19 response. Much of april our state averaged about 5,000 deaths a day. Now we have reached almost 16,000 a day with our real goal being 30 tests a day. 30,000 tests a day. The single biggest test to our ability to hit this goal is supply shortages that continue to significantly restrict michigans testing capability. I have conferredm with of my colleagues and i know this is not unique to michigan. We need the white house to create a specific longterm plan outlining how the federal government can assure adequate testing supplies so we can gather the data we need to make informed decision abouts reengaging our economy. As we would all benefit from a guarantee of free testing nationwide, coupled with a Robust Campaign. The economic havoc for residents and government budgets by the coronavirus have been severe. We have now processed more unemployment claims in a single day than during the worst week of the great recession. We have already reached the highest Unemployment Rate since the great depression. Right now the language in the does not give us the flexibility we need to address our revenue shortfall. A broader solution is needed and i think that the house of representatives i thank the house of representatives for your does not give us the flexibility we need to address our work and hopeful that the Greater Congress can come together and get it done. The covid19 pandemic has highlighted the disproportionate people of color. Africanamericans are 13. of our resident population and yet represent a staggering 40 of deaths in michigan. Our lieutenant governor, michigans first africanamerican lieutenant governor, is heading up our task force on racial disparity. The task force that is dedicated in the memory of sky lar herbert, the youngest person in michigan to lose a battle of coronavirus at the age of 5 both her parents are first responders. We reengaged michigans economy through the my phase start plan. We need to make sure we avoid a second wave of infections at all costs. We have made incredible progress saving lives in michigan. The reopening plan is reformed by the best Public Health experts in the country. Im glad to participate to tell michigans story. We are resilient and tough. Its that determination im tremendously proud of and i know in these challenging times. I look forward to our discussion. Guest doip thank you, governor. Its now time for meps. Committee to ask questions and the chair will now recognize herself for five minutes. Arent we going to hear from governor hutchison . Chair degette im so sorry. Only one republican witness. We should hear from him. Chair degette hes a republican that i love because he was im soarry. Governor, you are recognized for five minutes. Sorry. Governor hutchison no problem at all. Thank you, madam chairwoman. It is good to see you again. I do recall our days serving in congress together. Ranking member guthrie, thank you for this opportunity. I want to say hello and thank my good friend, Ranking Member greg walden, for the invitation today and for his friendship through the years. Of course chairman pallone, it is good to see you again as well. And i am a delighted to be here with my fellow governors who each one of us have phased different challenges in our respective states. Perhaps in different ways, but it reflects the uniqueness of each state. And the decision that is have to be made. I certainly respect every decision that was made by other governors reflecting their state. Our fight against covid19 began on march 11 when testing revealed our first case in the state. I immediately declared an emergency from that day on. And we took this very seriously and took a quick and appropriate aggressive measures to minimize the impact. We had a duel mission. Our First Mission of course was to protect the health of our citizens. Especially those that were deemed to be most at risk. Our Second Mission was to minimize the economic harm to individual families because it costs them, it hurts them, andn so many different ways. Today we are in phase one of our recovery, and to put it in perspective, we have about 7,500 cases in arkansas. We have 121 hospitalized. And we have had 133 arkansans die of covid19. These numbers, as the other governors will attest, are very minimal in terms of what we see in so many other states. Hospitalization rate and death ate are low compared nationally, and to our region. When it comes to testing, we are testing more each day. In late april we were testing 1,000 to 1,500 tests each day. I set as a goal that we would test 2 of our population in the been f may would have 60,000. We exceeded that goal in may. In fact we tested over 80,000 arkansans in the month of may. So the testing has accelerated greatly. During the last seven days our Positivity Rate has been right at 5 . Over the last 30 days its been bout 7 , well low the National Standard thats been recognized of 10 . In june, our goal in terms of testing is to test every resident and every nursing home in arkansas, including all staff, our testing is done through a combination of our department of health, our university of Arkansas Medical Sciences, and the commercial labs and then the employers are doing an extraordinary job of starting their own Testing Programs through commercial labs. Whenever it comes to following up with our Contact Tracing, put it in perspective when we started this pandemic we had three nurses at our department of health that were responsible for Contact Tracing. Three. Today we have over 200 that are doing Contact Tracing. That is an important part of our infrastructure for avoiding and handling the future in terms of the potential wave. The most frequent question i get asked is, why did you not issue a shelter in place order in arkansas . Again i respect every governor as to the decision they had to make, but our decision for our state in not issuing a shelter in place order was in combination with our pub lig health Public Health team and we believe it was the right direction for our state. My Public Health team said a stayathome order would not significantly slow the spread of covid. I knew the stayathome order would cost thousands more arkansans their jobs. And possibly cause more businesses to close permanently. Instead, we doubled down on our message that encouraged arkansans to follow social distancing guidelines, to wash their hands often and well, and to wear a mask in public. I trusted the citizens of my state with good information to act responsibly in a personal choice and they did. Theres always a few outliers, but they have followed those guidelines. From the beginning we proceeded cautiously in terms of our targeted restrictions on businesses. We calculated which businesses were more at risk. We put more restrictions there. Now of course we have been gradually releasing and lifting hose restrictions. As i said never come close to filling up. Our supply of ventilators is more than adequate. We even offered to send five to a fell state that was in need fellow state that was in need. In templets private sector, i want to acknowledge their support in terms of the private sector, i want to acknowledge their support. Walmart has helped in testing sites across the state. Our poultry industry which has been a challenge for us but a critical, essential industry and they have begun their own testing within their plants. They engaged their own Contact Tracing which was very impressive to me. That they dont simply rely upon the government to do that. They have their own health clinics. And provide paid time if quarantine is necessary. So with that we have over 60 processing plants in arkansas and none of them are currently shut down. They are all operational. And people are working. In terms of the economy, just like everyone else, we projected a significant loss of revenue to our state budget. In fact, we projected a 10 loss of revenue from sales taxes. But our economy has been stronger, has suffered less of a loss. And we are coming atless than 5 of the loss in terms of sales tax revenue. Today we are issuing our revenue report that will show that we are above our revised forecast, which is still down from last year, but we are beating the projections significantly in terms of our recovering economy. We look forward to having more success in the future. We have an Economic Recovery Task force. Thats going to be leading that effort that Stewart Walton is chairman of and have leading arkansans supporting that effort. With that im grateful for the opportunity to tell a little bit of arkansas story. And look forward to the uestions from the committee. Chair degette thank you so much, governor. And thanks to all our witnesses. Now the chair will recognize herself for five minutes for questioning. Let me begin by saying as the members know and subcommittee know we have a long history of examining pandemic preparedness. In fact, we have had 11 hearings in the last 15 years in this subcommittee on pandemic preparedness. The most recent one, many of you will recall, was on december 4 where we had many of the players who you see, including dr. Fauci and dr. Redfield, and others come and testify. And these officials have spoken candidly about the challenges that we would face during a pandemic. I was pretty appalled that the federal leadership and systems failed as dramatically as they did when we did get a pandemic because of all the assurances we had had. Testified itmer, you quote the overall response has been uneven. Uncertainty about the availability of supplies and the federal governments role in directing the allocation of these supplies has hindered our ability to coordinate our defendanting strategy. Governor, could you elaborate further on this . And how the abilityle to combat covid particularly in the testing realm. Governor whitmer sure. I would be happy to. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to it talk to you we are truly grateful for the supplies that we have received. Hhs and the cdc. I will just say the uncertainty about supplies is the federal governments failure in whiching these supplies undermined our ability to coordinate a testing strategy. In the early months, supplies were extremely limited. Role inral governments supporting testing was narrow. There was a commitment from hhs swabs. A for 450,000 appreciative, we are often given very Little Information in terms of when that is going to come in. The information we are given it sometimes is inaccurate about type ofpplies supplies we should anticipate receiving. If we had a detailed breakdown of what was actually in the shipment, we could mobilize and ensure that we could best institute those supplies. We have the capacity to do 25,000 tests per day in michigan. We havent been able to achieve that because we cannot plan them with certainty. I think the biggest concern that i have, i know that a question was raised about the flu season. My chief medical expert in michigan is just absolutely worried about flu season when it comes to supplies and testing and reliability to meet the needs. We talk about this on our delegation but also in your testimony, you testified about out by thee caught conflicting messages and lack of support from the federal government as to what colorado would get. Can you elaborate on that . The most important thing that we could do better on the federal side is the transparency and really knowing what were going to get and when. While those discussions left us not knowing, not with a no, not with a yes, are there going to greater,ry dates, even the vague commitments at certain. Evels if the federal government does come through, we might have too much of something, and not enough of something else. If we are going to plan and coordinate, we need to make sure we have all the cards on the table, everybody is know what we are going to get planned or not going to get plan, and states try to fill in the holes. You think the kind of plan we need is to look forward to the fall and beyond . Gov polis we would love a way to know exactly what we will end wont get. No one is saying it has to be the exact day, or approximately when and what so that states can plan on that. Governor widmer, would you agree . Whitmer, we do agree . Would you agree . Gov whitmer absolutely. Representative guthrie, you are recognized for five minutes. You answered my first question, im going to skip right to the second question. I will just go out the better go go out for better go. Go alphabetical. Dr. Fauci said we have to flatten the curve, and until we get a vaccine, we are not going to have zero cases. Somebody said, as you all have experienced, it is a very difficult decision, shutting down different parts of the economy. A difficult decision that could be even harder is when to open up. We know there are going to be more cases until we get a vaccine, but we cant stay shut down forever. Is, the governor of oklahoma, when they were theyding their actions, were being criticized on television. He said i have 300 cases and 4000 and the hospital beds. My question is, as you look to open up, what are you looking for, what data is your state looking for to determine what you can open, and what are you looking for to say well, we need to retract . I will start with governor hutchinson. If you lookon back to the very beginning of this, it was all about hospital capacity. Hospital capacity is not an issue anymore in terms of our 150some hospital is actions hospitalizations. We needed to go back to the elective surgery, we needed to go back to the other procedures, and weve done that. So, what do we look at . Its about the number of cases, thats important to know, but more importantly the Positivity Rate, it is about our Contact Tracing. The recovery rate, and how many active cases that we have. Those are some of the things were looking at. Obviously, the end results were the ultimate tests, what are the deaths being caused from that . If you look at the future, the most important thing is that we have to manage this risk. Fall got to go into the recognizing there could be another way, but we cant go back. We have to be able to manage through the risk, and that is through testing, that is through Contact Tracing, and that is through social distancing until we get a vaccine, and thats our strategy. We are in phase one, we are not going to go back but we are going to wait until we open up more to get a little bit more successful data. Thanks. Ive got two minutes, i want to make sure governor widmer gets a chance to answer whitmer gets a chance to answer. I think all governors here desire to reopen as much as possible as soon as possible. I dont think anybody wants to be in a situation where you have too many people together, and a risk of having a 20,000 person concert or event right now. If that were to occur, it would likely lead to mass transmission of the virus, going from dozens of people, hundreds, thousands. You want to do this with safety guidelines. We opened up some time ago in and april, barber shops salons, and we major both parties were Wearing Masks. Relativelyas been successful, we have not heard of transmission cases. Is as soon as possible in a way that does not have to be reversed because that would be rough. Gov whitmer i appreciate the question and because we need a National Strategy, because there is no National Strategy, each of us has developed our own strategies. The vast majorities of states are in his four. What we are at is the number at the top. What is the capacity in our hospitals . But also working with the Business Community to develop protocols to mitigate what is facilitated in print sectors of the economy. Is most important thing getting supplies which is so crucial to read engagement and avoiding that second wave, because none of us wants to take steps backwards. If we look at testing, i know im out of time, but if we look at testing, weve got to be looking at diagnostic testing, not conflating other testing with diagnostic testing. We have to get that percentage of our population. If there is a possibility we could use the defense production bs, to start producing swav thats what we should be using the dpa for. I appreciate you guys being here today. I yield back. Recognizesr now chairman for five minutes. To touch on two things from our democratic governors, one is to double down about the lack of National Testing. Think the, i democrats on the energy and Commerce Committee, i guess im partisan, they really dont trust the president to implement any kind of National Strategy or even a it is theo they say states responsibility. I dont believe that. As democrats on the committee, we have tried with the cares act and the bill that follows to tolly be more prescriptive, try to have some kind of uniform National Policy. And also a lot of transparency polis likehitmer and dimension. Ask, if you look at what is in the heroes act, which is really what we wanted to do from the beginning, what we do , wee have a supply chain require a National Chain of command and we have all kinds of transparency along the lines of what you said to make sure you know exactly what the goals are, and when. Testing,regard to the we would say that there has to be a national goal. Right now, arkansas is that 2 . New jersey, 7 . People can travel from one state to the next, we have freedom of movement, so that doesnt work. The testing has to be nationalized in the sense that there are clear goals, there are benchmarks, there are timetables. Do, what testing do you hope to achieve for Opening Schools . What levels for employers . A lot more details. If the two of you tell me what you think about that, we will start with whitmer and then p olis quickly, and then i would like to ask a question if we could. Gov whitmer theres no question that the testing is something we need to do more of nationally. I can tell you in michigan, people are worried about making sure that we got the plastics, the swabs. These are critical components of that this robust testing every epidemiologist and Public Health expert is telling us that we need. We can debate about interactional manufacturing, international manufacturing, but it isd just submit that National Strategy to ensure that we have these test kits, that is the most important thing that the federal government could do. Against onees bid another for supplies has left us with deep and serious holes in National Policy and i think having a National Policy to execute on the front lines is crucial. Yound Governor Polis, mentioned the fall. Im concerned that if we dont have a national guard, we dont have these National Policies in place with specific benchmarks and transparency, we are going to have the same problems with vaccines as dr. Bright said. Inld you comment on that particular as to the fall and the next steps in terms of this supply chain, the National Strategy . Is important that we do have a mechanism in place for National Coordination on that scene delivery or theres going to be an even greater freeforall around that. Just like we have with our thisy health department, plays a coordinating role. What i would like to see in the ideal world is the federal government playing a coordinating role and the actual work is locally administered. We were particularly thrilled that in the heroes act, it said 14 has increased. The importance of that is absolutely critical for recovery in the crisis. As you know, we increased from 6. 2 to 14. Governor whitmer, would you support that . Absolutely, the economic crisis has lasted a lot longer than the health crisis. Thank you both, and thank you, chairman. Thank you so much. The chair now recognizes Ranking Member for five minutes. Again, thanks to our governors are your leadership and your inspiration today. One of the things Going Forward we are trying to look at is nursing home death. Dealt with this issue differently in the early stages, some learned probably months ago that sent patients back to Nursing Homes. Each of you, how do you handle that issue with covidpositive nursing home patients, did you have then go back to the Nursing Homes from which they came . Sure. First of all, we would never positive patient into an environment in which they would expose others. In any congregants setting, whether it be a prison or a nursing home, unless i know they are totally different, but we would make sure that the positive patients were totally separated from those that had tested negative, and they would not be required to go back there. We have had a challenge just like everybody else, but our Public Health has done an extraordinary job of testing every resident whenever there is a positive case in dealing with their health. Data thatstand cms came out today, you are ready to test your rate of test for michiganomes is 6 , shows up at 63 . Is there a different policy in colorado or michigan . Who are you addressing the question to . The governor of michigan, first. Gov whitmer that is not an accurate number. 63. 6 per thousand Nursing Homes. Gov whitmer 23 is roughly what and numberssay, across the country have seen unfair devastation from covid19. Governor hutchinson said we have taken efforts to ensure that every resident after being , they are separated, that the protocols are very strict about what that looks like. No nursing home is required to take a covid19 patient. There were strict protocols about who could go into these settings and really prioritize ppe and testing. Governor polis . Gov polis we set up a president ial task force in april that really helped to address some of these issues. The team has been working on asympg for a cinematic tomatic workers. We require that every congregants senior care facility in the state prepare an isolation plan for residents that might have been exposed to covid19. But with sue have had cases had to implement those plans, which might mean a separate wing, it might mean making sure there are not roommates in the dining area. Of course, the best way to prevent death at Nursing Homes is to prevent the virus from coming in in the first place. Thats why testing for workers is so important. Im going to yield the remainder of my time to the gentleman from michigan who i know has some questions as well. The gentleman is recognized. I think the chairman and the ranking i thank the chairman and the Ranking Member. I appreciate you being here. I recognize that we are all doing this for the first time and were learning as we go. I appreciate that. I guess i would just follow up, being ranked fifth in the nation for overall deaths in nursing recently beyond 1654you have now put out, patients who died, 12 Staff Members on top of that. To did it take you so long change the policy . Putting patients back in the Nursing Homes, but also reporting, because it was just shown this past thursday or friday that he began to report, and that report was low. Could you inform us why it took so long . I think what michigan has experienced is different than what other states have. We have such exponential growth early on when we just started contagiousout diseases and how people can carry it without having a single symptom and affect others. The bestorking with council of our Public Health experts across the country and at the university of michigan every policy that we instituted. That of course, in retrospect, probably numbers decisions, we would have made some adjustments. But the fact of the matter is, when it comes to the data, one of the inherent challenges is that people dont necessarily put on a death certificate that it was covid19. Ive seen a lot of initial reporting on pneumonia cases. Public health goes back and looks, a lot of those could be covid19. I think that is the inherent challenge. Weve done remarkable things in terms of sharing information. I yield back. The chair recognizes the gentlelady from illinois for five minutes. Thank you. January 30, the first case in illinois. That is six months ago, and we still have not flattened the curve in the United States. Over one million cases yesterday, so it went up 26,000 from sunday. Other countries have done better. Thent to focus also on hardhit Nursing Homes, the longterm care facilities. They started doing the releasing of information that they gave two months ago, and so the 26,000 nursing home residents and workers have died. Toia reports say closer 40,000. , i know thatate Nursing Homes account for almost half of the confirmed covid19 deaths. In other places in the country, it is as high as 70 . Its just unacceptable, the Racial Disparities with covid19 also and fatalities extending to Nursing Homes. Weve seen higher deaths among africanamericans and latinos in illinois and around the country. The covid19 crisis in our nations Nursing Homes and longterm care facilities is a national disgrace, and we have not seen help from the Trump Administration. They have failed to publish data ensure access to testing which is so important, and coordinate distribution of ppe. And i just want to thank the heroes that are going every day theork and are suffering challenge that they face in those Nursing Homes and the fact that they get up every day and go to work. Ive been in Constant Contact with my governor who is doing his best. Governorpolia and how have you taken longterm care residents and workers, you mentioned some of what do you need from the federal government . It seems to me that is an Important Role for them to play. I would like answers from Governor Whitmer and Governor Polis. Thank you, and i appreciate your passion on this issue. I know that this is something that as a nation, we are grappling with how to do a better job keeping people in our care, especially people who we know are uniquely susceptible. Policy in a National Terms of Nursing Homes, in lieu of all of the robust testing supplies that we need, it is really incumbent on the nations we haves to ensure that a handle on who is going in and out of our care facilities. That we are sitting a higher standard in getting every Single Person tested. The ability to isolate, that is the key. In lieu of a vaccine and dick york, that is the most in and dick york, cash and eighth your and a cure, that is the most important thing that we can do. So that they dont feel compelled to come into work. That is one important piece of it. Thank you. About two thirds of the apparatus in colorado are affecting the elderly, similar to what many states are. We set up a Residential Task force in early april. We also appreciate the effort of the federal government to deliver personal protective equipment to set of five two certified Nursing Homes. We have about 1000 Senior Living facilities. To aquipment is only going sub classification of the total number of cases that older coloradans live together. Isolation in all of those facilities and we are rapidly setting up new testing of a synthetic workers which is not a onetime thing. If you testing worker who is with the love to be testing workers once a week to see if we can prevent those infections from even reaching those senior care facilities, and we need help with supplies as well as continued testing. Thank you. The chair now recognizes mr. Burgess for five minutes. You need to on mute, you need to unmute, mike. I kind of like it on the mute. Would. I want to welcome my panelists and my governors to the hearing. Its a little less exciting without having you there. I do want to ignore it to governor hutchinson, from your neighboring state of texas, i am related to arkansas by marriage. My wifes people are from Prairie County. The cdc up to a level where testing was sufficient. Cdc was only putting out singledigit subtest of tests. Delay that thehe cdc had, im interested from hearing from each of you interested to hear from each of you. Thank you, and come back to Prairie County anytime. All, there has been a lot said about the role of the federal government. I think every governor recognizes that early on in this, the supply chain was weak, but it has gotten stronger and stronger and today, within 90 days, our nation has actually ramped up production, the supply chain for testing, and i have confidence in that supply chain that has been built up over the private sector and through cdc. In terms of the federal standards, i look at cdc guidelines and i think theyve been very helpful in setting some National Standards for how we reopen, and how we do gymnasiums and everything from sports to churches. To me, state flexibility is all about that. The cdc has made a commitment to chain,esting and supply and they are filling that. That is the reason we are able to go from 1000 tests per day up to close to 3000, because the cdc has accelerated their supply chain and it is working for us. I think that the supply chains are in a better place than they were, but the cdc in the early days, we did not count on them. States reported the presumed positives. Meaning, we validated them in our state lab. Our stay validated test. I dont know how far behind the cdc is. We dont even use them to track anymore. The state lab provides the daily information. Governor whitmer . Gov. Whitmer thank you. That mei my crosses state and national borders. Michigan has brought on nearly 70 instate laboratories. We cannot be fully utilized without a consistent, reliable, abundance source of supplies and i think that is the frustration that i have, and i am confident many governors on both sides of the aisle have it as well. Testing is crucial to our ability to know how fast covid19 is in our state. Assessing how there is a second from and how we bring that becoming an exponential growth. , hown i ask you quickly your modernizing years states Public Health labs . Gov. Whitmer we have ramped up dramatically, and built our labs early. We did not want to send results to the cdc and wait for them to come back. Governor polis . Gov. Polis we scaled up to be able to process 10,000 tests per day. State labs are where it is at. They are an appropriate way for national administration. Hutchinson . Gov. Hutchinson the cares act funding has helped to beef up the infrastructure of our state lab, and we are not only increasing our tests, but also building a capacity for Antibody Testing, which we will need in the fall as we look to continuing to live and function in this environment. I recognize, congressman kennedy for five minutes. Thank you for being here. Including the cdc official and the acting director have stated that robust and increased Contact Tracing capacity throughout the country will be essential to containing covid19 , ensuring communities can safely resume a prepandemic life. Some states, such as mine in massachusetts, were early leaders on that front launching a collaboration to establish a virtual car center call center with Contact Tracings, but the nation will need as many as 180,000 contact tracers to stem the tide of this virus. We have a long way to go. And we need investments to build the critical workforce. The chairman said in the heroes that would provide resources to expand the Contact Tracing efforts on the ground. Governor polis, i want to start with you. Many experts point to robust Contact Tracing to support our containment efforts. Do you think Contact Tracing is a critical component to your response . Gov. Polis exactly. To better isolate the individual and who comes into contact with the individual. There is no proven clinical treatment for coronavirus. What doctors will say to someone who tests positive, you go home and quarantine. ,he benefits from testing encouraging people to selfisolate is twofold, identifying asymptomatic that are positive, and tracy who came into contact with somebody and who came into contact with somebody who was positive. Are isolated for 14 days rather than a societywide isolation switcher devastating for our economy as well is our psychological health. Governor,vernor what are you doing to step up the necessary personnel needed . Gov. Polis we know how to do it. One is time, meaning it is not something you can turn on. You have to train people and get them up to speed. We wish you couldve had this month ago. We doubled the number of epidemiologists in our state. Secondly is the money. Thelutely, especially given anonymous cuts to state budget, there needs to be a federal role for states to do that. Governor hutchinson, you testified in mid april that there were four recommendations, including Contact Tracing. What challenges have you faced in trying to ramp up those capacities . Gov. Hutchinson thank you. Governor baker and the team in massachusetts set a good example for the nation, but in terms of the challenges, there are many. It is the training. It takes a unique personality to be able to call somebody up and start asking questions about who you have been in contact with over the last few days, and give us that information in, and by the way you need to isolate yourself, and we will check in with you every day. That takes some training to be able to handle those calls because it is a very sensitive area, and it is very critical, and as time goes on, you will get more resistance to that because we have had 250 cases that could mean close to 1000 people will have to isolate or quarantine once you do your Contact Tracing, and that is a huge hit on peoples lives, and they will have pushback as we go through this, but it is absolutely essential to do it, so it is the training. We are utilizing cares act , andng to beef that up were looking at private contracts to help us because when we get an immunization for this, we will probably have to scale back quickly, and we will be beefing up for thousands of workers. Curiousnor whitmer, from your perspective here, and again, there is a very urban parts of your state and rural parts of your stay. Have you seen difficulty with Contact Tracing there . We have to get we have to have the ability to trace and get people to be honest. Not that there is a penalty would being honest. What will be helpful on top of a Robust Campaign federally to get people testing, and to get them to answer the phone lines we start to trace. Thank you. The chairck recognizes congressman mckinley for five minutes. Thank you, madam chairman madam chairwoman. Governor whitmer, i will direct my questions all to you. I have three questions. You can answer those in a followup after that. Governor whitmer, you have been openly critical in the media of the Trump Administrations response to the pandemic. With all due respect, lets take a hard look at some of the actions that the Trump Administration and cdc have accomplish in chronological order. On january 7, they established a management system. On january 17, they begin implement a screening at three u. S. Airports. On the 21st, they activated Emergency Operations centers. January 31, the Trump Administration declare the coronavirus a Public Health emergency. On march 12, the World Health Organization declared that the pandemic. S a the following day, the president declared a national emergency. Hesitated andyou you waited until march 26 to ask for a federal disaster declaration from the president. By the time you asked for that declaration on march 26, 12 other states have already requested and have been approved michigan and almost 60 residents had died from covid19. It is a two part question. Do you regret not acting sooner . Secondly, remember that 12 other states have already acquired disaster declarations. Do you think michigan should have been put in the front of the line ahead of these other states relative to the federal stockpile . Second question, Governor Whitmer, on march 27, you told a michigan was that in trouble getting equipment they needed because you alleged the federal government was telling vendors not to honor the contract they had with michigan. These are serious violations, or allegations. Ofld you release the names those vendors were . Third question, governor, according to the washington post, many nursing home many nursing home staff have died. Friday, at least 1216 nursing home residents have died from covid in michigan, which is about a quarter of your states covid. Other states have instituted mandatory testing in testing of nursing a resident in stabbed, but apparently, you have not. Why not, governor . Can you answer those questions, please . Gov. Whitmer i want to thank you for raising these questions, and with all do respect, i will not go toetotoe with you and every allegation that you have alleged. I will say this though, the United States lost valuable time in the early days of covid19 when we could have been planning, when there could have been a National Strategy. We still dont have slavs. We still dont have enough swab. The enemy is not one another. It is a virus, and the virus does not stop at a state line, and it does not stop at a party line. We have to ban together to address the crisis that has that hasur nation, killed over 100,000 americans that has unemployed millions of americans. Until we get our arms around the health crisis, the economic crisis will be longer and deeper , and that is precisely why we have to get this right. When i went to the media and i was talking about the fact that because the federal government did not have these supplies, we were told to procure them on our own, i started contracting globally. I never imagined i would have to create a global Preparedness Office during my state emergency, but that is what we did, and we were getting calls saying they were going to be delayed or canceled. I acknowledged that publicly he know what . Republican governors have acknowledged that same thing, but for whatever reason, i got criticized for saying that, but i am not alone in that experience, and i would direct you to speak with other governess to acknowledge that. Guess who tops all of our tracking abilities as the federal government. Government our supplies were getting delayed and distracted, and that is why i was calling on help because we had one ship worth of ppe at that time. Chair now recognizes mr. For five minutes. Thank you very much. I appreciate everybody being here today. This is very informative and very much needed. Riverside county, the county which my district resides, have seen the impacts of this pandemic has disproportionately and adversely affected vulnerable communities, communities of color, poor communities, and our immigrant communities. Black and latinx individuals are contracting covid19, being hospitalized due to covid19, and are dying from covid19 at rates that are as much as four times greater than their share of the population in the city or state. My question to the governors joining us today seek to find out what actions your states are taking to increase access to covid19 testing, and care for these marginalized communities that have taken the brunt of the pandemic . Governor whitmer . In your testimony, you mentioned the staggering disproportionate rate of deaths from covid19 among black michiganders. You established in Michigan Coronavirus Task force of Racial Disparities dedicating to Schuyler Herbert to study the causes and the impacts of covid19, and making recommendations to address these inequities. How will the task forces recommendations are being incorporated into michigans response to provide more equitable systems for ensuring access to covid19 testing and care . Gov. Whitmer congressman, thank you for your question. I appreciate the nature of it. In light of everything that is transpiring in our country, it is important talk about the racial inequities with covid19 amo also the criminal justice system. Frankly, beyond. That is why i asked the lieutenant Government Debt governor to share the task force that we can get our best on the table to improve outcomes in the health around, but also, taking the lessons from this, and using them to drive the policy agenda we will pursue as well. There is no question that covid19 has amplified preexisting social inequities tighter race, class, and assets access door help your system but communities of color are frequently the ones who dont have the financial injury to work from home, to stay on the front lines during a pandemic, dont have the kind of money to go and buy groceries necessitating more infrequent trips. They dont have access to be safehoods that might environmentally. These are all aspects. Statet exactly will the do to remedy some of these . Gov. Whitmer so, we know that there is not an overnight solution, but we have got the process started, and it includes your colleague is apart of this effort because it is important that all of these lessons are taken, not just at this moment, but to drive an agenda that can heal this experience. Governor polis, communities of color in colorado have experienced higher rates of covid19related deaths in their white neighbors. You said the response has focused on protecting the most formable communities in your state. How does colorado plan to increase access of testing and care to foldable populations and care to vulnerable populations . What can the federal government do to help address these disproportionate impacts and systemic inequities, and also, i just want to say, we miss you on the Democratic Congressional baseball team. You, too. we miss first of all, we have over 45 Free Community testing sites. Andave clear english spanish languages and is free to everybody and we have widely marketed materials in english and spanish. We have some documents translated into somali. It is free, easy, and quick to get tested over the 45 free testing sites. We formed a task force on Health Care Disparities and are working closely with latino and black communities to really identify some of the systemic issues for covid19, as well as address how we can get better testing and care out to minority communities. Thank you. This is a very important moment to pause and reflect in the future, where there are tens to minority health, defund programs, or pipelines that help reduce more minority providers and Public Health experts. Many people in the field said it has detrimental effects on the Actual Health of human beings. And it is no more pronounced than in a pandemic seeing the death rates do to these chronic disparities that we need to address as a nation. Thank you very much. Will recognize mr. Griffith. Point ofr, i made a relating to House Resolution 965 and regulations promulgated by the chairman of the House Rules Committee in accordance with that resolution. It is important we strictly follow the letter of the resolution, and the resolutions thereunder. This proceeding is not the problem. These witnesses are honest. The problem is regulations that the rules chair promulgated are clumsy. If we have a witness in the future that intentionally misleads the subcommittee and perjured themselves, as an attorney, i am confident any attorney worth their salt would successfully defend and have their bad actor found not guilty of misleading us and not per themselves. Rewritee this committee the regulations. Them for what they say. I will go to questions very governor hutchinson, and a paper released by Committee Republicans on testing and surveillance, we recommended a priority should be testing nursing home and assisted living residents and staff. Whether symptomatic or not. Nursing homes and other Congregate Living Centers account for more than 40 of the covid19 death nationally, even the residents at these facilities represent a fraction of a percentage of the population, it is my understanding you made a pledge to all nursing home residents and staff this month. Can you expend this initiative and how it fits into your testing strategy . Gov. Hutchinson thank you, and i appreciate the Committee Report that emphasized the importance of this, and the reason we are doing it in arkansas is it is the most long ago population. We want to be able to keep them safe, and with the staff going in and out of facilities as necessary, we want them tested, whether theyre symptomatic or asymptomatic, so that is a critical part of it. It will also identify any residents that are positive that we can isolate them and take a protective measure. I think it will be great. What we want to get to is we can once again have people tested and go in and visit a family member. We have to be able to stop having total isolation of somewhat in a nursing home, and to let them come back to be around their loved ones again, and hopefully, through this testing process, we will be able to get there. I appreciate that. I know somebody whos loved one was in a nursing home, had dementia in me without their family encourage them to not do their therapy and subsequently within a week or so, died after they contacted me about the problems about getting in to encourage them to do their therapy. That is important. Has the state established protocols for the test positive to prevent an outbreak . What protocols do you have at this point . Gov. Hutchinson if an employee they areitive, then isolated, they are quarantined, and you know, there has been a question as to whether a staff person who tests positive should be able to even treat and work with a positive patient . Early on with desperation, i think that was done in isolated cases, but we got sufficient resources now that that should not be done. That is not the ideal, so there sent the isolated. And they should be paid during that time. Every worker who tests positive should not have an obstacle and says i should not get tested because i could lose 14 days of wages very that is something we need to continue to do. That is a really good point, and i appreciate that. Testimony, i would point out the defense procurement act was used to give funds to Puritan Medical Products in maine, and they are increasing their swap production by 20 million, so they are doubling it. I think that is important. Would you agree with that, governor . Gov. Hutchinson absolutely private defense production act has been utilized for the supply chain, and that is been appropriate, and it has been quite in flows by the federal government as well as to where the hotspots are and where the priorities are, and i would say the defense production act is being used in terms of the supply chains for food, for poultry, for meat. We cannot go to our Grocery Stores in this environment, in this america a may have sufficient food for people who need that nourishment. And so, the supply chain, im glad the president invoked it for that purpose. I agree and yield back. We recognize mr. Custer for five minutes. You will need to unmute. I am trying to do two things at once. Thank you so much for being with us. I want to thank you. This is not a partisan issue. Give a federal delegation in new hampshire, the republican governor, and we have struggled with all of the issues you talked about with ppe and with testing and supplies private and supplies. And anto move forward, even more dangerous second wave of covid19 along with the flu next fall or winter. The cdc director has cautioned a second wave of covid19 can be. Ven more dangerous given the burdens that covid19 placed on the nations Health Care Systems, it is my believe we have a very brief window to learn from our past missteps you have outlined regarding supplies, testing, and ppe, and prepare for this second wave. And i wanted to not just with regard to additional testing and care demands on our providers, but also, the vaccinations that we are going to need across our country. Governor whitmer, i would love to ask you in light of the covid19 testing challenges your state has faced, what solutions can be applied in preparation for a potential second wave of the virus to ensure your progress is not undone . Gov. Whitmer congresswoman, thank you for the question. I think that is an important one. I know that while we have been through a tremendously difficult couple of months, a second wave would be even more devastating, and that is why it is important to think about reengagement. That is why i am working with some of the best experts epidemiologists in the country. We are working with a Bipartisan Group of midwestern governors to share information about our economy. We want to avoid a second wave of all cost, ensuring there is robust access and mobilization of a vaccine, and that people are not putting off other vaccines they are do for our critical component for us being a strong as we can going into the fall. It is also that we cannot just flip the switch. We have to turn the dial and incrementally reengage. Until we have a vaccine while the available, we have to wear ks and sociallydistance sociallydistant. It is important to have a data driven approach and listen to the science and beef up our stores of testing and our ability to trace. I appreciate that. ,nd your comments about a lab and a National Strategy for testing. We definitely need a National Strategy for vaccination. We have had some troubling testimony from dr. Wright in our committee about the lack of a National Strategy, and planning and preparedness. I want to ask you, Governor Health care providers focus on vaccinations going want to understand if you have Lessons Learned in your ime, and particularly, concerned about that equitable distribution of vaccinations, once they are approved and particularly in lower income communities, Rural Communities, especially in communities of color that we know have been disproportionately impacted by covid19, with a much higher rate of death and how can we be certain that the vaccine, when it becomes available, will be way inle in an equitable communities of color and also Rural Communities in your state and across the country . Gov. Polis the vaccines we have, they made an approved vaccine and we are making a major effort to increase our flu vaccine rates because the last thing we want is a resurgence of Covid Patients coupled with flu season that will country to overrunning our hospitals. It is important that we look at prioritizing those were most at risk of covid19. The cdc has current guidelines. 65 and up and with a number of other criteria they use. In our state, we added one. Once the list is finalized, that should be the list for who gets vaccinated first. Those who have a much higher hospitalization rate and morbidity rate from covid19, regardless of their economic circumstances. This virus does not discriminate. Thank you. Congresswoman brooks for five minutes. Thank you for being here and for your leadership. I want to build on a little bit talking about a second wave and potentially Opening Schools. Schools obviously had to close this year due to the virus, and while so many students transitioned to online learning, we know the importance of reOpening Schools and getting dos back into schools has to with making sure they are adequately fed, making sure people teachers can report child abuse situations, having the opportunity to interact with their classmates. Can you talk about i will start with you, governor hutchinson, can you talk about your plans to reopen schools, especially with the concern . Bout a potential second wave and i would like to hear about each of your plans for the reopening, the use of testing, and what your state upon risking planets. Governor hutchinson . Gov. Hutchinson thank you, congresswoman. A Perfect Question because, as you point out, for many, the School Environment is the safest environment for a child, and we are really missing something when we do not have the inclassroom instruction. So we are very committed to Opening School next fall for those reasons, as well as that is the best educational tool, and we recognize, though, that there might be a second wave, might be a positive test, so we are making plans for a blended learning environment so that if we have to close for two days for cleaning the school or for other reasons, we can shift very quickly to online instruction for a couple days and then come classroome in instruction. We are preparing that right now, but we are very committed to having school next year. Then in terms of the testing by the way, the teachers, some of those are going to be vulnerable populations, and they will be a little bit worried about this. We still have to sort through and make sure the teachers have the support they need in that environment. But we are going to have school, testing is a big part of that and Quick Response to testing, tracing that, and were going to have it because it is so critical. Governor, thank you so much. Governor polis, anything different that you and your state are doing . My son is in colorado. And we appreciate his work here. I suspect schools will largely be back in the fall. I use the word largely, because there will be particular communities and neighborhoods where there are outbreaks and there might be temporary measures or some students wanting to start online. As the governor of arkansas indicated, it is also important to know that there will be interruptions in some cases. When there is a sitebased outbreak, kids will have to move to an online format for a period of likely two weeks for the intubation period, people to get tested, and for people to return. Our teachers, principals, superintendents are doing an amazing job under extraordinary circumstances, and they truly would not have been able to do that work without the cares act that you and your colleagues support. I encourage an additional round of support for schools during this very difficult period unaware aware they are being asked to create a way of doing things in tandem, knowing that we hope the kids are there and are back, but there could be periods of time where they go online temporarily. Thank you. Governor whitmer, my son did his michigan. Aching in anything different michigan is doing with reopening and to prevent a second wave of covid in the fall, anything different . Gov. Whitmer similar. I would say the decision to take kids out of school, i know it is weighing heavily on both of my colleagues here, as well as governors across the country. My daughter did not have a graduation ceremony, so that was in my own household. The fact is, the science and the best information we have said that was the right thing to do. We are now in a spot where we are getting a group to come together to promulgate practices for reengagement this fall. That is our hope and plan. It might look differently. We might have to drop class sizes are have different protocols to keep people safe. Like my colleagues said, that is our goal, to resume some sort of inperson instruction in the fall. Congratulations to your daughter. Gov. Whitmer thank you. Thank you. Congresswoman castor for five minutes. Thank you to the governors for joining us today. I want to ask a few questions about transparency in the testing plans and in the data reporting. We all understand the key to safely reOpening Schools and our businesses is going to be that widespread rabid testing with a vulnerablecus on our neighbors, like in Skilled Nursing centers. After the administration failed to play that coordinating real early on with testing, testing supplies, Congress Passed bipartisan direction, spearheaded by a lot of folks on this committee, to develop, direct hhs and the administration to do a better job in developing a National Testing strategy in partnership with states and local communities. Report aes states to. Esting plan back to hhs it provides resources to stay to help with that. I would like to know, with each of you submit your testing plan you to hhs, and did did each of you submit your testing plan details to hhs, and did you publicly release that . Can start. Nson i the answer is yes he would we have coordinated ever testing plan, submitted our testing plan. I will have to check as to whether that has been posted on the website, but we certainly are transparent about that. We announce our goals continually as to what we want to do testingwise, and that will be part of it. Governor polis . Gov. Polis yes, we did submit that last friday. We have offered to make our plan public. I do not know whether it has been made public yet or not. But we will do that. Gov. Whitmer same for michigan, yes, we did. Did you release it to the public . If it ismer not sure on the website. I am going to double check right now. Ok, because there is some consternation because the hhs, as i understand it, does not intend to release those tells publicly, so we are going to have to count on the states to be transparent. I trust that you are doing that, but we have had some other problems in the reporting of Public Health data across the country, and i would like to get your advice on how we standardized that data. For example, here in the state of florida, early on we had resistance at the state level on recording reporting infections in Nursing Homes, and ,e had medical examiner data but we have strong public records in florida that they are not allowed to do that, so they changed their tune. Just last week, there was a story in politico, they ran an article that highlighted the data,hat bad state coronavirus threat as a trump pushes reopening your they quoted a Public Health you expert from Columbia University that sums it up. All these stories about undercount, overcomes, missed counts are undermining our ability to deal with this pandemic. The country, he says, is confronting an unheardof level of chaos in the data, protocols, and the information. Would you share with me any challenges you have had in the reporting of data, and what do to need from congress improve the collection and reporting of data and working with us to make sure it is standardized from state to state so we have a true picture and can be informed . Ov. Whitmer i will jump in i absolutely support that goal. I think the frustration the general public and governors have alike, making sure we have good, accurate, realtime data. The data simply around testing right now is very confusing. Some states it is serology tests, but others like michigan are only doing the cover 19 diagnostic testing in our data. That is just one of a plethora of examples of how it is different across the nation. An additional challenge is, of course, we have local Public Health departments, so i have had to issue a number of executive orders requiring that local hospitals and departments are sharing realtime data. It is a challenge. I think direction and articulation from the federal government, along with Additional Support to ensure we can get this done, would go a long way toward really assessing where we are as a country and where we want to be. Yeah, i certainly agree with that. You look at our extensive reporting about covid19 online, i think all the states, certainly colorado, i was very disappointed initially with the level of data i had as governor. We now have a lot more data, data on Racial Disparities, data on who died of covid versus just who had covid and also died of a comorbidity, data on who gets released from hospitals, all areas that we lacked initially that we have now. But we did it on our own and i think the other governors did it on their own. I do not think it is the kind of standardization nation standardization that mia might like. Gov. Hutchinson i agree with that. Hospitalization is a big example, those electronically reported in arkansas, but i do not know that that is the same nationally, and the other challenge is in the commercial labs. The commercial labs, of course, we get delayed data, could be two days, could be however long it takes them to get the test results back, and then sometimes we only get if it is a positive test back and we do not get all the negative information. So that transferred information to our Public Health system is too slow and not sufficient data. Thank you. Chair now recognizes mr. Duncan for five minutes. Chair. K you am a madam i would like to yield my time. I think the chairman and mr. Duncan for yielding me some time. To governorck hutchinson good to see you here. I have spent a lot of time at the white river trout fishing. Question asask this a governor, and i could ask into the other two, as well. Why shouldnt the federal government be responsible for funding the actions of the state which are specifically not delegated to the government . Gov. Hutchinson well, thank you, congressman, and come back and fish the right the white river anytime. In terms of the authority between the federal government and the states, you know, i think it has been a fair balance appeared we can all complain a little slow early on, but, my goodness, in 90 days, we ramped up the supply chain for one of the most massive investments in production on Health Care Supplies that we have seen in history. But in terms of the funding side of it, i like the flexibility that has been given to the states. It has been federal support with state flexibility. You know, federal guidelines where the state can manage it. And i like that. I like the fact we have that flexibility. If you look at all the trendlines in the states for the pandemic, every one of those is different. You do not see it mirrored. Even within the state, you see different trendlines in the different regions. Governor polis, good to see you again. Gov. Polis thank you. The reality is that when there is an emergency, we all rise to the occasion, whether it is an emergency like Hurricane Katrina , whether it is fires in weifornia, in colorado, rally together. The unique nature of this emergency is we are in a state emergency for the first time in our history, as to my understanding, in all 50 states in the nation and the territories. Between theeration federal governments and state governments. But in essence, it is no different than how we have always come together in National Crises and emergencies. Governor whitmer . Thank you,r congressman. I concur with what my colleagues said. I would just recognize the incredible challenges in funding right now are real, and it is universal. We in michigan have about a 3 billion hole in the budget, and it is bigger in next years budget. And where the bulk of state budgets are, we know it is Public Health, Public Safety, and public education, all of which are incredibly important i thinklic pandemic that is why it is we work together. Is somebody else on . Everybody needs to mute except the people talking. We can give three seconds back there. Governor whitmer, how much of the federal stimulus money that michigan has received so far has your Administration Spent . Gov. Whitmer a great question, congressman. I know i have the answer right here. At this juncture, i want to reiterate first how grateful we are for the support that we have gotten. Some of the federal funding that haveome to michigan, we spent a total of if you look at Provider Relief Funds, 900 billion for hospitals, 326 million for health care providers, 1. 2 billion for approved,oans, loans 16,000 of them. Those are moneys you have spent or received . Gov. Whitmer moneys made available to michigan businesses, hospitals via congressional relief real legislation legislation. The question is on i see that quite a bit of what the state has received has not been spent yet, and im wondering why they have not. Gov. Whitmer you know what, i am happy to follow up with you to give you a full accounting of each of the expenditures paid out to the people of michigan so you have got that. Thank you. I look forward to that. I yield back. Recognizeir will now for fivean tunonko minutes. Unmute. To we still do not hear you. Can you hear me now . K, thank you, chair and Ranking Member, for what is a very, very important topic, and thank you for all the information that people have exchanged. Since the onset of the covid19 , states have faced immense challenges in obtaining testing supplies and critical medical equipment such as swabs, are theowns, and gloves Trump Administration has left states to battle each other for scarce supplies, rather than leading a centralized national effort. States have been forced to outbid each other for medical equipment while scrambling to find new suppliers, leading to higher prices, costly delays, inefficient allocations, and widespread confusion. Governor polis, it is good to see you. Can you describe the challenges colorado has faced when competing against other states for critical medical supplies . We have to compete against Global Demand for ppe and for testing. It is to be expected that we compete against other nations. But the surprise element is competing against other states and sometimes even our own federal government. As a nation, all 50 states in error territories really need to be able to coordinate in a more effective way. Local distribution, local autonomy, but coordination with regard to acquisition so we are not costing one another more by bidding up prices in competition with one another. Are there other things of the federal government could better support in regard to state efforts to procure medical that some ofensure these mistakes are not repeated . Gov. Polis yeah, i think we should have a lot of learning from this and really make sure we have a way where there is a transparent way of distributing protective equipment to the states and a collective way where we can know what we are getting, when we are going to get it, and coordinated purchasing at the skill of the federal level and advantages of us not being against one another and ultimately get a worse deal for taxpayers. Very good. Governor whitmer, welcome. Your testimony also identify hurdles your state has faced in obtaining medical supplies. I will quote from your testimony, the lack of centralized coordination of the federal level created a counterproductive competition between states and the federal government to secure limited supplies, driving up prices and exacerbating existing shortages. Governor, is the lack of a centralized federal coordination effort still limiting michigans ability to reliably secure medical supplies today . Gov. Whitmer yes, and i will just talk about one very simple piece of the test, which is the swab. Swabs are absolutely essential to conduct the test we have the acity to do about 1000 25,000 tests a day, but we do not hit that capacity because we need that item. The federal government has offered, and we are grateful for the commitment to send us these materials, but often times the shipments do not reflect what we expect or the diversity of types of swabs that we need. I talk about swabs so much, i never thought i would be focused on such a simple instrument, yet each of these different covid tests use different types of swabs. So when we expect 180,000 swabs, diverse swabs, and we get 180,000 foam swabs, we are grateful for those, but it means we cannot do the test that required the other type of swabs. I have talked to counterparts, some of whom have literally gotten qtips, which are unusable in the covid19 tests and they are being counted as swabs. That is not in michigan, thankfully, and were grateful for those swabs, but we need that kind of robust diversity in the implements so we can live up to the opportunity to hit at 25,000 capacity. So until there is a centralized procurement and allocation with realtime information about what is coming so we can do our planning, it is going to be hard for us to hit those numbers that we all know are necessary to understand how fast covid19 is so we can prevent the spread. Thank you so much to my governor. It is obvious states were essentially left to fend for themselves, fighting for limited medical supplies with little federal help. The Trump Administration must provide leadership to ensure the states are able to secure the medical supplies it desperately have, which is why consistently urged this administration to make robust use of the defense production act. As we move forward, the mistakes of these last few months simply cannot be repeated. With that, madam chair, i yield back. Thank you, gentlemen. Gress been surveyed congressman sarver. Thank you very much, madam chair. Can you hear me . Yes, we can. Whats i want to thank the governors on the call today. Thank you for the work you are doing, very much on the frontline of this pandemic. My question is about Antibody Testing, because obviously it has a certain allure to it, this notion that people can discover ,hether they got the infection have overcome it and are now in potentiallyt, immune position, so it is a very appealing concept, but the centers for Disease Control and i think a lot of others in the Public Health arena are being very cautious about the deployment of it and reliance on it. But it must be something that is getting discussion on your teams as governors, and you must be looking at it and trying to figure out, is there an appropriate role, and at what point will you feel that the Antibody Testing that is available has reached a level of reliance that you want to make it part of your strategy, if you have not done that already. As we head into the reopening, there is certainly a role to be ifyed by Antibody Testing that can be done, again, responsibly. So i would love to get your take , because i know there is some nervousness, and appropriately so, about it, and i also know, frankly, that it is getting deployed in a very uneven fashion, not just from official sources but medical folks out ofre who have access to some these tests and are providing them. So if you can speak on that, and maybe we will start with Governor Whitmer and then go to Governor Polis and then governor hutchinson. Gov. Whitmer sure, i appreciate the question. I think it is really important. Serology testing is going to be an incredible longterm asset. Right now we have a number of epidemic partners in michigan working to develop serology studies so that we can assess the prevalence of covid19 in the state, given the capabilities and current limitations on testing, our experts are telling us it is most appropriate to identify individuals who had a covid19 infection at some point in giving them the test so we can really study the efficacy of serology. We believe that this will be a critical component of a longterm strategy, and we are hopeful that, as these tests improve in their efficacy, we can use them widely. Thank you. Governor polis . Gov. Polis to be clear, the priority for testing now is who is contagious now, who has active viral count now, and how do we isolate them. The serology has significant medium and longterm benefits, but the biggest ones depend on the emerging scientific body of knowledge around what degree of protection antibodies provide and how long they provide that protection for. There needs to be general Scientific Consensus that there is additional protection that is conferred by antibodies, but it is a big unknown and makes a major difference in terms of the impact on who has had it and who has not. Is it 80 protection, 99 protection . Last three months, last six month . These are the unknown factors that we expect science to answer in the coming weeks and months. Meantime, that limits the impact of knowing whether people have had it or not. The second factor with problems, is there a number of lowquality high error rate in the marketplace, and i think the marketplace is beginning to sort itself out. The higher quality, validated methods of Antibody Testing are now being used, but there are still some results out there from unreliable tests. Governor hutchinson, i will give you a chance to respond, as well. Gov. Hutchinson i agree with the comments of my fellow governors youre it we have taken the approach that this is critical probably for the fall. We are already starting to invest in that at the university of Arkansas Medical Sciences to develop an antibody test, but we believe that the scientific body of knowledge will improve. We think the costs will go down, so we want to wait for the right time, to have the right technology and the best science before we really go fullblown with that, so it is a part of the future, but it is not the shortterm future. Right now we are concentrating on the covid test. I appreciate that, and i think we are all right to be somewhat cautious about this. It does have great promise for our strategy in response to the pandemic. I think the emphasis rightly remains on the diagnostic test and making sure that is as widely available and supported with all of the different supplies that need to go with that effort. So i appreciate the testimony you have all given with respect to the need for the diagnostics, and we will continue to obviously emphasize that, as well. I want to start with governor hutchinson. Has beenimony [indiscernible] you have been in but the congress, so i will ask you, you touched on this, but what do you think of the most effective ways to to be collaborating with the state the federal government and what would you like to see from the federal government that you have not seen . Gov. Hutchinson i do think when it comes to rolling out the vaccine that we all hope we get before the end of the year or as soon as possible that we do have some Good National guidelines that will help, and they will have to help guide the distribution of those vaccines. So that is an important part. I think in terms of the cares act, the flexibility given to the states is good. They need to give us a little more flexibility to help the cities and counties with the funding, that sort of a gap that we have. I hope that can be addressed. The question was asked before about how we use our cares act funding. We intentionally want to reserve there willt, because be emergencies that come up and we do not to spend it all. We want to be able to save some of it for emergencies. I want to ask Governor Whitmer, thank you for your work, and just so you know i am originally from southfield. Youve mentioned that you have encountered transparency issues , and youg supplies said that supplies could be . Llocated can you elaborate on that a little bit, and the specific areas where you might like to see Greater Transparency from the federal government . Ov. Whitmer thank you i want to highlight, i gave the example of the swab shipment that we were expecting. We are grateful, and i always would to start with that, for every ounce of support that we have gotten. The issue i think that has made goalsd for us to hit our is that when we are expecting shipments, they do not request what we are planning for. We are surprised when they get here that it is very different. Redo the plano and undermine the ability to execute our plan. Really it is about making sure the shipment is in terms of what we expected and that the cadence is applicable. We have been promised a number not come, and it has in at the right cadence, or what has come in is a little different than what was expected. So that has been challenging for and to do all of these diagnostic testing that we so desperately need. That is what i am referring to when i made those comments. I think a lot of us are frustrated that this stockpiling and Domestic Production has not been robust enough to deal with Something Like this. It seems very simple to be clear about what is coming and not coming. That is a frustration for a lot of folks that information does not cost anything, and we should be doing a better job at the federal level. Im running out of time, but i want to say thank you for your leadership. Withw you have struggled the pressures of reopening, but you have stuck to the science and allowed your state to be flexible. Length aboutore at the government possible review in the future, but i wish you all a lot of luck and thank you for being here today. Hutchinson, we know you have to leave, and we really appreciate your presence today. D have any final words for us, but we can do to help your state Going Forward . Gov. Hutchinson thank you for your courtesies today and thank in for the bipartisan way which you are looking at this issue. I would just urge everyone to look at the future and what we can do to get it right. There will be a time that we will have to rehash all of this and learn from it, but it is about being able to get ready for the fall and working together. Thank you very much for the opportunity today. Pleased to be joined by several members of the full committee who are not committees of the oversight and investigation subcommittee. Recognizere going to a congressman who has been waiting for five minutes. Thank you. This is really incredible you have taken all this time to be here. I have a question, and then i have some prepared questions for the two governors. With regard to the unemployment the stateof course each has a set amount, and then we get the additional 600 from the federal government under the cares program, as you know. I know they are having trouble with the Small Businesses actually getting the employees back who are on unemployment, therew that there is a mechanism on the books so that the employer would request that the employee come back to work, and if they do not come back to work, i understand they are not eligible for the employment benefits. And we can start with Governor Whitmer. Is that being enforced in your particular state of michigan . Gov. Whitmer one of the things we have done to ensure that we made use of all of the cares act dollars, we have been able to meet the needs of over one million workers in michigan, and i think one of the great things that we have available to us is the workshare program. It is one of the best programs , and thiseen embraced is an opportunity to provide an appointment benefits to help make up for lost wages in the event that workers are not back at full capacity. It is to meet that gap in pay. Got several weve businesses that are taking , and the of this business cant retain their force and pay them as well as they were before. So this has been a good program. This is a way that we can help get people back into the workforce since businesses are coming back online. Add polis i would just that for people who are at risk, if they are 65 and up in the workforce or have a preexisting condition, they should not necessarily yet return to many we want to job, so make provisions where they are ore to utilize appropriate they can be reassigned to positions that does not interface with the public, and for those who have added risk, it is important that we make accommodation. The billly appreciate that was passed in the house to get the businesses the flexibility from eight weeks to 24 weeks. I think we want to make sure that we protect the future employees as well because the current law says after july 30 worse 31, the end employment runs out, and i just want to make sure that our states are enforcing the laws on the books to make sure if they are able ,mployed, and they can work that they have to get back to work instead of collecting the end appointment benefits. I have another question for the governors. The Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement act included another billion dollars for states and local governments for purposes related to the covid19 testing including support for use by employers or in other settings. Are you planning to use any of the funds that your state receives under this provision to help employers with expenses related to the covid19 testing . We will start off with Governor Polis, since i can see you. Gov. Polis a lot of that is going to the critical Covid Response as was the intent of congress. A lot of those costs are being borne by county health departments, municipalities. Congress directly allocated money to the very largest of the municipalities and a few counties that were very large, yet many of the smaller counties also have those expenses. Wereional expenses incurred by our schools, by our community colleges, and we are prioritizing those that have been in the front line of the expenses with regard to the covid19 response. I think that i would echo what Governor Polis just said. Congresswoman dingle is recognized for five minutes. Unmute, deb. I went to thank all of you for being here today. This is the first time the house has really heard from the governors i want to ask you a broader question because we all need to know. , and ifrom my governor talked to my governor a lot, because that is what i am there to do, a desperate need for more relief. I want to hear from both of you, but she is working with the state legislature on budget needs now. Can you talk about the urgent need for more funding for the states and the counties and the cities to make up for lost revenue, and what would happen if congress does not provide you with more direct relief to the states and the counties and cities . Im going to go to my governor first. Gov. Whitmer i do appreciate the question and i think it is important, covid19 has wreaked it on the budgets. We have about eight 6. 2 billion total loss, and it is a crisis unlike anyone has ever seen before and it is all associated with the Public Health crisis. Every governor regardless of affiliation will work to make sure that you and congress understand the plight that we are confronting. The numbers show that we need flexibility, support from the feds if we are going to reengage our economy and provide services to the people of our state. We cannot do this alone. We need a federal government partnership. We really need additional flexibility and Resources Trade none of us would want the people that stayed on the front lines and have put themselves in harms way to take care of everyone else to bear the brunt of these shortfalls. When the biggest parts of our budgets are consumed by Public Health and Public Safety and education, those are those frontline heroes that we want to the helpand obviously of our economy depends on us being able to balance the budgets so we can continue to make the right decisions all across the country. Grateful fore were the health the help in the cares act. Not know where we would be without the cares act money. We also would be extremely appreciative of the heroes act in some form reaching the president s desk. It is very challenging for states. We have a balanced budget requirement. States are not able to borrow. We would have cutbacks at a time when many colorado families could afford it the least, social securitys, Medicaid Expansion would be in jeopardy. It is really a critical thought that the federal government steps up and supports our schools. Thank you for that answer. I am very worried about a return, seeing the spikes again. People are not Wearing Masks are not keeping the social distance, not listening to what you are saying and the doctors who say it. I am very worried about the lack of ppe equipment. We have several weeks, but if we have another spike i am worried what will happen again. I could go through another list. What do you think Congress Needs to be doing right now to help prepare for the fall . We are not even through the first leg. There are areas of the country that have an increase, outbreaks for a couple of weeks that have been going up. Stte of the states have been going down, so the first wave is not over. While the overall trans are getting better, it is still on the uptick in a number of places. Critical,radical those who serve in congress, and also because i want to protect myself and my family. I also went to model this for the general public. Socialo building distancing into how we work. We are able to have this conversation just as effectively while being safe, and our state legislature has been taking these efforts as well. Im know we are out of town , but i think time, but i want to say thank you for articulating so well but it is we need to not let our guard down. We have to learn to live with covid19 and change the culture on how we personally conduct ourselves. Medically Accurate Information needs to come from this platform. Congressman walberg, five minutes. Thank you. It is good to be the michigan token on the side of the aisle. It is good to be here with our governor. I wish we could all fly back on the same plane i am flying back on. Think my mass care, but i herely think we could be in Congress Working in a on a lot of issues. This will be secondbest, and we are using it as best possible. I am glad i had time yielded. Just point out this with some other statements that were made prior to this round of thetioning, i notice here facts that there are 32 states withholding funds from city and local governments, and Governor Whitmer i see michigan is one of those. I know you have mentioned the 6. 2 Million Dollars shortfall. I would hope you not expect that other states who have opened up their economies, including those just south of us, let alone and florida,eorgia and i could go through the list, should be expected to help pick up our shortfall. I would hope that would not be the case. In the meantime, the funds that have been given to the states from the federal government in the cares act, i would hope that those would be used for the purposes intended with the flexibility that you do have. I do not think it should be an ultimate flexibility with the dollars coming, but i wonder why michigan is one of those states. I will give you a chance to answer that, that is withholding funds from our local communities. We have spent on thisbit of time call, and i think we should do that when you come back to michigan. Im not going to leave michigan very often. Of the things that if you wanted to be helpful in lobby our Republican Legislature and work with me, i am sure we can move a lot of those dollars quicker. That is one of the things that is happening. I had a conversation this morning, and we are determined to ensure we utilize the dollars that congress has sent to michigan in a smart way that and includes our plate here. With regards to our unique reaction to covid19, our experience with covid19, you will recall just a couple of months ago our numbers were exponentially increasing like new york and louisiana. We were on a trajectory, with the third highest number of cases and deaths in the nation, and it is something as americans, everyone should be able to expect that our government should step up and help us. It should not be disproportionate based on what state you are in. Everyone of us should have that expectation. I know that our delegation is working hard to ensure that everyone in our state gets the kind of support we need. I am really grateful. If the government did step up and helped michigan as well with the significant dollars and i could go through the listing of to thet came your way as administration and the legislature and citizens as well , but they have to be spent well. As you have talked very clearly, and again this is our First Experience with this pandemic, i want to be respectful of that, but other states have done it in such a way they did not have that type of spike. Other states did not put Covid Patients back in Nursing Homes until just recently. Just yesterday you opened our state out more including the part of michigan peninsulas. There has been a great amount of disparity while we have big box grocery, marijuana, appointment now for auto dealers, restaurants, bars, yet barbers and hair salons and movie theaters and exercise are still not open. That is the economy. That blows the economy. We cannot deal with that shortfall if we do not grow our own economy. Governor, i want to be of help, but i think we have to do with the data says from other states as well. I see my time has ended. I yelled back. Gov. Whitmer am i permitted to respond . I will allow a brief answer. Gov. Whitmer congressman, you know that michigan has had a hard time with covid19, and we have needed help from the federal government. One shiftre living on worth of masks, we were in desperate times and that is why we had to take action. Our curve down and saved thousands of lives and now we are in stage four of a six phase three engagement. We have made progress because people of our state has taken this seriously. Thank you. Representative jim forte for five minutes. Thank you for allowing me to waive on. This discussion has been very instructive. I think one of the important lessons that we have learned in responding to covid19 is that one size does not fit all in policy. It is just not the way to go. New york city faces different challenges than little rock or denver or detroit. Different than deer lodge, montana. Even inside my own state of montana, cities like bailey billing saw multiple infected people yet many counties have seen no cases at all. Lex ability is very important. Another Lesson Learned is that we now know more about this virus and are learning more every day. We should use that knowledge to adapt our Public Policy responses now and if there is a resurgence. The virus seems to be most deadly in the elderly and those with health conditions. It seems especially deadly in Group Care Facilities and Nursing Homes. Early lockdowns due to the flu season and strict prophecies for covid kept these facilities mostly safe. Other states have made different choices and had different outcomes. In the future we need to concentrate our efforts to ensure we protect the most vulnerable like the elderly and those with underlying conditions. I had a meeting with a Senior Living center in montana, and they had not been able to see visitors for months. The worst thing going on there was [indiscernible] we can both safely restart our economy and protect the most vulnerable among us. [indiscernible] can you hear me . Very much. [indiscernible] have all identified i just want to ask you [indiscernible] one of the things that we been able to do [indiscernible] we work very closely with pharmacists, and this is one place where this crisis has created a relationship and an issuey to confront the and maybe there is more we can do in that space. [indiscernible] so it has been working really well. Have you had any of this in michigan . [indiscernible] gov. Whitmer maybe i shouldve practiced before i did it. [indiscernible] i am encouraging more people to do this. Wehink it is important that encourage people to do this. [indiscernible] now it is easier and we need to encourage people to get this test done. We apologize for the technical difficulties with this harry so we will move on from it and take you to a Senate Hearing that is investigating the fda manufacturing and inspection process for foreignmade drugs. This is live coverage from the Senate Finance committee, should get underway in just a moment here on cspan
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