Localities shouldn’t have to wait for federal authority during coronavirus pandemic

OPINION:

States and localities have considerable DIY authority — and well they should, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

If your local schools need textbooks, they shouldn’t wait to get permission from state or federal bureaucrats.

Ditto toilet paper, which is being hoarded during this COVID-19 scare.

Just imagine your children heading to a school restroom and taped to the walls and stalls are sheets of paper declaring, “Out of toilet tissue. Please use the restroom on the third floor.”

Postscript on the exit door: “Wash your hands.”

Public schools and school boards have been indoctrinated by the federal agency that President Jimmy Carter and Congress turned into the Cabinet-level Department of Education, effective in 1980: Follow federal laws, rules and regulations; and yield to state laws, rules and regulations.

Meanwhile, you have to cross your fingers — and vote — if you want change.

See, once unions began exercising their power over the federal public education, elected officials and parents lost theirs.

Now, back to gubernatorial authority.

The U.S. Constitution is clear: Whatever powers are not clearly designated to federal authority rest with the states. Yet while we anticipate and criticize every word President Trump relays about coronavirus process, his critics wag a finger.

Consider the issue of ventilators, respirators and other medical equipment. On Monday, Mr. Trump told governors to get their states what they need to stem the spread.

“Respirators, ventilators, all of the equipment, try to get it yourselves,” he told governors in a conference call.

“If they can get them faster by getting them on their own, in other words, go through a supply chain that they may have, because … during normal times, the governors buy a lot of things not necessarily through federal government,” Mr. Trump explained.

Why is simple: “It’s always going to be faster if they can get them directly, if they need them, and I’ve given them authorization to order directly.”

Mr. Trump’s suggestion is neither flippant nor unreasonable considering two factors: 1) Federal rules and regs, whose strings are pulled from the depths of the swamp, are eased by the Trump administration because of the COVID-19 pandemic; 2) libertarians appreciate the snips on the tether.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan isn’t waiting for the White House, Congress or any other federal authority to bless his leadership. A Republican, he has taken matters into his own hands, giving practical and commonsense measure to arrest the likelihood of the spread of the virus.

He’s closing casinos, race tracks, betting parlors, bars, restaurants and gyms. He also has closed education facilities in the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia region before the elected leaders of the other two jurisdictions.

The Democratic governor of Virginia and the Democratic mayor of the nation’s capital are unbelievably dependent on following the federal government’s lead.

Sometimes, they wouldn’t know how to think outside the box without being told.

So thanks to the president for showing the box during this time of crisis and showing giving them permission to put one foot in front of the other.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, for his part, has been so determined on carrying the nation’s anti-gun flag he’s blinded by his own agenda.

Sadly, Mr. Northam can’t see fit to be nonpartisan even when the public’s health is at stake.

⦁ Deborah Simmons can be contacted at dsimmons@washingtontimes.com.