TheWestern States Pact is aninterstate compact between fivewestern states in theUnited States to coordinate the rollback ofeconomic restrictions implemented by the state governments in response to theCOVID-19 pandemic.
In announcing the Western States Pact on April 13, 2020, California, Oregon and Washington governorsGavin Newsom,Kate Brown, andJay Inslee jointly announced that "COVID-19 doesn’t follow state or national boundaries. It will take every level of government, working together, and a full picture of what’s happening on the ground."[1]
The agreement was made with four goals:
On April 27, Colorado governorJared Polis and Nevada governorSteve Sisolak announced their states would join the Western States Pact, with the latter noting the importance ofinformation sharing.[3]
On April 30, 2020, research and education networks from the states involved, such as theUniversity Corporation for Atmospheric Research's Front Range GigaPop,Nevada System of Higher Education's NevadaNet,CENIC, Link Oregon, and the Pacific Northwest Gigapop, announced they would be joining the shared approach under the Western States Pact and would be offering ultra-broadband research and education telecommunications networks and services to support the Western States Pact.[4]
On May 11, the Western States Pact released a letter, signed by the governors and state legislative leaders of all five states, to Congress requesting $1 trillion in aid to help deal with the financial effects of the coronavirus. The letter states that the aid would "preserve core government services like public health, public safety, public education and help people get back to work. It would help our states and cities come out of this crisis stronger and more resilient."[5][6]
On September 16, the governors of California, Oregon, and Washington announced a joint pilot project to test the COVID-19Exposure Notification System developed by Apple and Google for mobile phones. If the pilot project is successful, these states would then plan to roll out the technology to all residents. Since Colorado and Nevada already have statewide Exposure Notification apps, all states in the Western States Pact would then be participants in the system.[7][8]
On October 27, the governors of Nevada, Oregon, and Washington announced that their states would join California's COVID-19 Scientific Safety Review Workgroup. This workgroup would provide the Western States Pact with a coordinated review of any potentialCOVID-19 vaccine, independent of the federalFood and Drug Administration (FDA).[9]
On November 13, California, Oregon, and Washington issued a joint travel advisory, encouraging residents to avoid non-essential travel and urging people arriving from other states to self-quarantine for 14 days.[10][11]
On December 14, the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup analyzed safety and efficacy data for thePfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The workgroup unanimously recommended authorization of the vaccine for emergency use, allowing California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington to proceed with vaccination campaigns without delay.[12] On December 20, the workgroup also recommended authorization of theModerna COVID-19 vaccine.[13]
On March 3, 2021, the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup recommended authorization of theJanssen COVID-19 vaccine.[14]
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| State | Governor | Accession |
|---|---|---|
 California | Gavin Newsom | April 13, 2020 |
 Colorado | Jared Polis | April 27, 2020 |
 Nevada | Steve Sisolak | April 27, 2020 |
 Oregon | Kate Brown | April 13, 2020 |
 Washington | Jay Inslee | April 13, 2020 |
| Sources:[15][16] | ||
Shortly after the Western States Pact and northeastern states announced their own joint plans on April 13, 2020, U.S. presidentDonald Trump asserted his "total authority" over the states' decisions about when to lift the shutdowns implemented in response to the pandemic.[17] After criticism from bothDemocratic andRepublican members of Congress, Trump clarified on April 14 that he would be "authorizing each individual governor of each individual state to implement a reopening" of their economy. However,Cornell Law School professor Kathleen Bergin said, "Trump has no authority [...] These are matters for states to decide under [...] theTenth Amendment to the Constitution."[18]
After Hawaiian business leaders and state House SpeakerScott Saiki encouraged joining the Western States Pact, governorDavid Ige said he considered joining the pact but decided not to because Hawaii did not share a land boundary with the member states of the pact.[19]
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