'Disjointed’ re-opening plans in Kentucky and Indiana frustrate Louisville chamber of commerce

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – A top Louisville business group is asking the governors of Kentucky and Indiana to better coordinate their states’ re-opening efforts, calling the plans released last week “disjointed.”

The plea from Greater Louisville Inc., the metro area chamber of commerce, comes as Indiana began letting some stores and businesses gradually resume operations on Monday, part of Gov. Eric Holcomb’s five-stage plan that would lift COVID-19 restrictions almost entirely by early July.

Indiana’s plan is more aggressive than Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s approach, which eyes a May 11 re-opening for limited businesses and industries. Last Friday, Beshear urged Kentuckians to avoid traveling to Indiana to dine out, for example.

Beshear said at his Monday briefing that he believes Indiana is moving too quickly.

“At the end of the day, each of us is responsible for our people,” he said. “I believe our gradual step is the right thing to do.”

The divergent plans have frustrated businesses that operate on both sides of the river, raising questions about how two sets of guidance apply to employers’ liability, human resources and other day-to-day operations, according to GLI.

“Our families, workers and businesses need consistency for this regional economy and do not view the Ohio River as the line we are being asked to stay behind,” said Sarah Davasher-Wisdom, the organization’s president and CEO.

The Louisville chamber submitted recommendations to Beshear and Holcomb, both of whom had sought input from businesses and organizations. And it was optimistic after the two governors announced they were joining a seven-state group working together to re-open the Midwestern economy, said Iris Wilbur Glick, GLI’s vice president of government affairs.

In fact, both Beshear and Holcomb specifically said the group’s governors would “coordinate” their plans.

But Glick said that’s not been the case.

“It is unclear which factors and decisions were coordinated up to this point because they appear to be very disjointed,” she said.

Holcomb said Monday he believed his plan adequately weighed the needs of counties in bi-state metro areas – like Louisville/southern Indiana – where businesses operate in both states.

Speaking at his daily briefing in Indianapolis, Holcomb said his administration received input from One Southern Indiana, the chamber of commerce that represents Floyd and Clark counties, which in turn worked with GLI.

“We absolutely did put eyes on what all those recommendations were for a smart re-opening, understanding that some counties in those areas are different than others,” he said.

Holcomb emphasized that he has spoken regularly with Beshear and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, sharing data on the illness in their states. “You’re never going to get us to be 100 percent in alignment on 100 percent of all the issues in al the different sectors,” he said.

Wendy Dant Chesser, president and CEO of One Southern Indiana, said a re-opening plan for the Louisville metro area would have rolled out at once, but that’s not what the governors were considering.

“This is not unique,” she said. “It’s more urgent and sensitive, perhaps, but it’s not unique in the sense that we’re getting direction from two different state capitals and we have to figure out how to make the most of it.”

Indiana reported 583 new cases of COVID-19 and 19 additional deaths from the illness.

The state now has 20,507 confirmed infections and 1,151 deaths.

There have been 334 cases of COVID-19 diagnosed in Clark County, where 16 people have died. Data show 18 people have died in neighboring Floyd County, which has had 204 cases.