That would be from the US Constitution, Article I, Sec 10 (paragraph 3) that he may be ignoring.
No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility.
No state shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it’s inspection laws: and the net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any state on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress.
No state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another state, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay.
So why this? These three items:
Garden State Gov. Phil Murphy stressed the importance of states staying on the same page. “If the protocols on one side of the Hudson for a restaurant or a bar are different than the other … you could have inadvertent, unintended consequences, which could be grave,” said Murphy. Gov. Ned Lamont of Connecticut said it simply makes sense for states throughout the Northeast to work together…
A “SMART Plan sounds like an agreement; something that will be put to paper. To wit: a compact. And then the West Coast “compact”:
- The governors of California, Oregon and Washington on Monday announced a joint plan of action to get a handle on the COVID-19 pandemic and ultimately reopen their economies. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee made the pact announcement in a statement. “COVID-19 has preyed upon our interconnectedness. In the coming weeks, the West Coast will flip the script on COVID-19 – with our states acting in close coordination and collaboration to ensure the virus can never spread wildly in our communities,” the statement read.
So what does this have to do with NH? It’s not West Coast (that’s for sure) and its not one of the Democrat run Northeast States (I bet I could make the argument that many MA Republicans are having buyers remorse over Charlie Baker being Governor). But it sounds like he is going to make opening up NH contingent and in conjunction with VT and ME:
- Maine Gov. Janet Mills said on Tuesday she has been talking with the governors of New Hampshire and Vermont about how to eventually reopen the economies of the northern New England states after the threat of the new coronavirus recedes. The plans of the three governors were largely undefined on Tuesday, but they looked to be more informal than other efforts to develop interstate frameworks on lifting stay-at-home orders and other restrictions. New York is leading a six-state group that includes Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island with a similar California-led effort afoot in western states.
…Mills and Sununu said the states are coordinating because of the connectedness of their economies, though Sununu, a Republican, said they may not move in “lockstep.” “We all want to have an understanding of where we are and all the governors have been working very, very well together, very closely,” he said.
This all comes after yesterday’s White House Coronavirus Task Force update in which President Trump asserted that the President has the Power to throw open the country’s economy. I saw that part – and frankly, like in a lot of cases, the Federal Government has been doing FAR more than the Enumerated Powers it has under our Constitution. In this, he is wrong.
From WMUR 9 at 6, Sununu said the following:
We are in this for the long haul. We are not coming out of this in the next couple weeks. We hope maybe this summer, in the next couple months. But that’s just the reality. On thing , my job is to plan for the worst and hope for the best. That’s a responsibility that we have but we are going to start that planning now, we are going to start seeing how things could possibly open up.
At News 9 at 5, Adam Sexton added that Sununu was talking with MA as well as to when to lift restrictions here in NH.
Just like with RGGI, we would be letting OTHER STATES determining our fate and our future. Is that what NH does? Is that what NH residents want – outsourcing ourselves AGAIN????
Sorry, Sununu can’t go creating a “Compact” with other States just because there’s an emergency and still be within Constitutional strictures (but then again, he didn’t care with SB142, did he?). There is no escape clause in either Constitution for “health reasons” or “disease” factors. It’s a legal document – not a living one that, as one NH Rep once said, a “guideline”.
“Maybe this summer“? Does Sununu really think that the Feds are going to bail out all the small businesses that make up NH’s economy? This summer – that’s from two to four months away (catch the very end of August and that would be technically “this summer”). Does he REALLY think that small businesses can last that long – those with 1, 2, or 3 employees? Especially if THEIR customers are gone? If THEIR employees have moved on to “Essential businesses”? What about THEIR mortgages, THEIR bank loans?
Sorry, but there isn’t enough $$$ from the Feds – after two week, that fund to bail them out is already in need for more money. And a bad economy is a death knell for re-election. A bad economy will hand Feltes or Volinsky the Governorship simply on that one fact. Doubt me?
NH used to be known for being self-sufficient State – Sununu, you’re crashing this part of the NH Advantage by believing the wrong people.
(H/T: Conservative Treehouse, Fox News, Bangor Daily News)
