Paul Schimpf in an op-ed piece wrote the state and country must talk about who to reopen the economy. | Schimpf website
Paul Schimpf in an op-ed piece wrote the state and country must talk about who to reopen the economy. | Schimpf website
State Sen. Paul Schimpf (R-Waterloo) is urging that a discussion on when the economy will reopen needs to happen and said an indefinite shutdown is not sustainable.
Schimpf wrote in an op-ed for the Southern Illinoisan in late March that while Americans are patient and can have courage and make sacrifices, there is not an unlimited supply of those things.
"Therefore, our leaders need to start talking about the point where we reopen our businesses and move our economy back toward normal," Schimpf wrote. "I am not advocating for an immediate end to social distancing and reopening schools—far from it. I believe those moves should occur when we assess that our medical capacity is capable of handling the influx of hospitalizations that likely further cases of COVID-19 will cause."
Schimpf believes that individuals should look beyond daily infection numbers and instead start strategizing for a "resilient society that can remain economically vibrant" while COVID-19 continues to exist. He believes planning for the end is just as important as the beginning.
Schimpf wrote that he wants an incremental approach to opening the country back up for business, looking for areas where things can slowly go back to normal and start with those areas. He wrote that social isolation and economic catastrophe have a cost.
"Our goal should be to minimize the loss of life and other damage in both the near term and the long term," Schimpf wrote in the Southern Illinoisan.
Schimpf also believes that state and national leaders need to be given lenience because they're doing the best they can in an unprecedented situation where they are facing potential hysteria and infringement on civil liberties, as well as weighing in on the costs of lives lost to the coronavirus or those lost due to the economy.
Schimpf wrote that both state and federal pandemic responses need to be improved.
"We should ruthlessly identify problem areas, but offer solutions, not blame," he wrote in the paper. "I have complete confidence that we, as both a nation and a state, will pull through this pandemic."
Schimpf believes Illinois and the country will both be stronger if they at least begin to think about what it will take to get back to normal.
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