Politics & Government

Newsom Says Local Governments Should 'Collaborate' With State On Relaxing Stay-At-Home Orders

Jefferson Public Radio

Published April 21, 2020 at 6:41 PM PDT

California Gov. Gavin Newsom during his daily update on the state government's coronavirus response.

As Gov. Gavin Newsom lays out a roadmap for reopening California’s economy, he’s encouraging a "collaborative" approach with cities and counties.

Newsom says local governments have some authority to begin lifting restrictions on events and businesses–but there are limits.

“They have the ability to make those decisions as long as they don’t contravene or conflict with the state guidance,” the governor said Tuesday in his daily update on the state's response to COVID-19.

And he anticipates the state may have to rein on some that move too quickly.

“I imagine there will be some examples of people getting ahead of that collaborative spirit and we may have to dial a little bit of that back,” Newsom said.

Last week, California was among the first states to establish criteria for opening its economy in stages. The state’s strategy will require the availability of widespread, rapid testing to identify new cases and potential hot spots.

Newsom says he’ll issue an announcement about the state’s increased testing capacity this week.