Hot Topics 2020

Power to the States: The Role of Governors During the COVID-19 Crisis

Thu Jun 4, 2020
6:00 PM - 7:45 PM
Event Video

The Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” The Tenth Amendment was the final amendment of the Bill of Rights and represented a compromise between those who favored a strong central government and those who preferred the states retain more power. That tension continues to this day and has been on full display during the Covid-19 crisis.

Many governors have garnered national recognition as strong, smart leaders during the COVID-19 crisis. Some governors faced unique challenges such as the COVID-19 outbreak on Native American reservations; other governors have faced criticism for either doing too much, or too little to confront the crisis.

In this special program, former governors John Kasich of Ohio and Bill Richardson of New Mexico will discuss the role of governors in general, but also specifically in the time of an unprecedented crisis. Other areas of interest include how the federal government did or did not support the states and what we can expect going forward both from a public health perspective and an economic perspective.

Event Video

Event SPEAKER(S)

Srinivas “Chinnu” Parinandi

Srinivas “Chinnu” Parinandi

Assistant Professor of Political Science

University of Colorado, Boulder

Bill Richardson

Bill Richardson

Former Governor

State of New Mexico

John R. Kasich

John R. Kasich

Former Governor

State of Ohio