Local lawmakers urge early reopening in SWVA

by JEFF LESTER • INTERIM EDITOR
This is one of many local businesses that were required by a state executive order to shut down altogether in the third week of March because of social distancing requirements and will remain closed through May 8.  JEFF LESTER PHOTO This is one of many local businesses that were required by a state executive order to shut down altogether in the third week of March because of social distancing requirements and will remain closed through May 8. JEFF LESTER PHOTO

Seven members of the General Assembly’s far Southwest Virginia delegation have asked Gov. Ralph Northam to consider the region’s proximity to other states as he considers plans to reopen Virginia for business and social activity.

State Sen. Todd Pillion expressed encouragement Monday afternoon regarding remarks the governor made during a press conference that day.

In a Friday letter, Dels. Terry Kilgore, Will Morefield, Will Wampler, Israel O’Quinn and Jeff Campbell, along with Pillion and Sen. Ben Chafin, reminded Northam that the region has less than 100 reported cases of the COVID-19 virus. “We hope it is clear that Southwest Virginians have followed the guidance coming from your office as well as the Virginia Department of Health to our best ability and we thank you for working with us as we navigate this difficult time.”

The lawmakers asked Northam to consider recent virus emergency actions taken by the governors of Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia — all of whom are moving more quickly than Virginia’s government to relax virus-related restrictions.

“The people in our towns and cities along our state borders rely on each other for economic activity,” legislators wrote. “If businesses in our border states are reopened significantly ahead of Southwest Virginia’s businesses, we fear that many of our small businesses will not be able to recover from this pandemic. Bristol, for example, will have a situation where businesses on one side of the street are open and closed on the other side. However, if businesses are allowed to reopen, we believe they are fully capable of doing so while continuing to fight against the further spread of this virus.”

In a press release issued late Monday afternoon, Pillion noted that during his daily 2 p.m. press briefing on the virus pandemic, Northam said this on the topic of region-specific reopening options: “A great example is in Bristol and I suspect most of you are familiar with Bristol but on one side of the line is Tennessee and on our side is Virginia. So again to try to be consistent, is it really fair for Tennessee’s businesses to be open and Virginia’s not to be? And so this is one of the things we’ll be discussing this afternoon with our businesses. How can we do this? Is this being able to open certain regions of Virginia possible? I’m open-minded to all of that and I would say stay tuned.”

“This is exactly what we meant when our delegation sent the letter to the governor on Friday,” Pillion said in the release. “It’s encouraging to hear that he is now taking this into consideration and acknowledging the unique circumstances we’re in with our region surrounded by four other states. We all have an interest in coming up with a measured approach that keeps Virginians safe while getting back to business.”