At Today’s Press Conference, Parson Struggled to Explain Why He Wasn’t Working with Other Midwestern Governors

During his presser today, Mike Parson was asked about why he had refused to join a bipartisan pact of Midwestern governors on reopening the economy. His response? “What everybody else is doing? I can’t worry to see what they’re doing.” 

It’s a bizarre answer from a governor whose state borders — and whose rural, urban, and suburban communities are deeply tied to — eight others. 

The comments came after Illinois Governor JB Pritzker told reporters that Parson has been essentially missing in action — and impossible to work with on addressing the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Belleville News-Democrat:

When asked if he has had “any luck” working with Parson, Pritzker said, “No.”

“We reached out to Missouri and they are not interested in joining that pact,” the governor added. “Because we have no national strategy that everybody is following that works for everybody, the individual governors are making their own decisions.”

Parson’s refusal to join the pact — which includes the Republican governors of Ohio and Indiana and the Democratic governors of Wisconsin, Michigan, Kentucky, Illinois and Minnesota — has raised concerns. According to the News-Herald, “Metro-east leaders have expressed concern about community spread of COVID-19 from Missouri” and are deeply worried that Parson’s “‘piecemeal’ approach to restrictions during the pandemic could result in a resurgence of the virus.” 

“Parson’s refusal to work with other Midwestern governors is just the latest example of him failing to protect Missourians’ health,” MDP spokesperson Kevin Donohoe said. “Working with Republican and Democratic governors to defeat coronavirus should be a no-brainer. Instead of doing what’s right, Parson only offers half-steps, half-baked talking points — and inaction.” 

Belleville News-Democrat: Here’s how a quick end to coronavirus rules in Missouri could hurt southwest Illinois

KEY EXCERPTS: 

• A “piecemeal” approach to restrictions during the pandemic could result in a resurgence of the virus, St. Clair County Chairman Mark Kern said at a news conference in late March.
• “Unfortunately, when you have a piecemeal effort going on in some states, that’s a problem,” Kern said. “What we don’t want to happen is to have an area that all of a sudden becomes a hotspot and reinfects the region.”
• Pritzker said there’s nothing he can do about how neighboring governors decide to reopen businesses. Last week, Illinois joined a pact with the governors of Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Kentucky to develop a plan for reopening.
• When asked if he has had “any luck” working with Parson, Pritzker said, “No.”
• “We reached out to Missouri and they are not interested in joining that pact,” the governor added. “Because we have no national strategy that everybody is following that works for everybody, the individual governors are making their own decisions.”