Three weeks ago today, Governor Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency due to the spread of COVID-19. One day later, John Locke Foundation researchers paused all other projects and got to work. JLF researchers have written around 50 blog posts, commentaries, and research briefs, including a five-part series of policy recommendations titled “North Carolina’s COVID-19 Response” (designated with an * in the list below). Media appearances and collaboration with state and national partners soon followed.
In the links below, you will recognize our five objectives: 1) assess the effects of COVID-19-related policy decisions on the daily lives of North Carolinians, 2) recommend policies that will respond to these challenges in responsible ways, 3) confront violations of economic and civil liberties, 4) challenge statutory, regulatory, and bureaucratic impediments, and 5) celebrate entrepreneurialism and innovation in the public and private sectors.
We have instituted the “toilet paper test” to determine when to resume our normal research activities. When toilet paper becomes easy to find in retail stores, we will cease our near-exclusive focus on COVID-19 (and celebrate by TPing the office of the youngest member of the research staff). Until then, please feel free to contact us with ideas, opinions, questions, and information about your experiences as you navigate COVID-19 mitigation measures. And continue to follow our work and the outstanding (and award-winning) work of our colleagues at Carolina Journal and the John Locke Foundation.
Health Care
Jordan Roberts, Health Care Policy Analyst: CMS relaxes more regulations to help hospitals fight coronavirus The Locker Room, March 31
Roberts: Hospitals to receive advanced Medicare payments The Locker Room, March 31
Roberts: Large sum secured for hospitals in coronavirus relief package The Locker Room, March 25
Joseph Coletti, Senior Fellow: True facts about public health spending and Coronavirus The Locker Room, March 25
Roberts: CMS approves North Carolina Medicaid Waiver The Locker Room, March 24
Roberts: JLF’s Jordan Roberts discusses state-level reforms that could help North Carolina deal with COVID-19 CJ Video, March 17
* Roberts: North Carolina’s COVID-19 Response: Health Care Research Brief, March 16
Roberts (guest): The Coronavirus and Your Family Shaftesbury Society, March 16
Jon Sanders, Director of Regulatory Studies: NC stops telling hospitals they have to ask permission to add more beds, temporarily The Locker Room, March 16
Jon Guze, Director of Legal Studies: Who needs coronavirus tests when we have a 450-page communications manual? The Locker Room, March 16
Guze: Some Good News Regarding COVID-19 The Locker Room, March 16
Roberts: Easing government burdens to help with coronavirus response Daily Journal, March 13
K-12 Schools
Terry Stoops, Vice President for Research & Director of Education Studies (guest): JLF experts respond to COVID-19 pandemic HeadLocke, March 27
Stoops: JLF’s Terry Stoops discusses COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on N.C. schools CJ Video, March 26
Stoops: Give parents the resources to select online educators for their children Research Brief, March 25
Stoops: School buildings closed through May 15 The Locker Room, March 23
Stoops: U.S. Department of Education waives testing/reporting requirements The Locker Room, March 20
Stoops: JLF’s Terry Stoops discusses N.C. response to COVID-19 pandemic CJ Video, March 19
* Stoops: North Carolina’s COVID-19 Response: K-12 Education Research Brief, March 17
Stoops (guest): The Coronavirus and Your Family Shaftesbury Society, March 16
Stoops: Wake teachers angry that superintendent allows supervisors/central office to work from home The Locker Room, March 13
Stoops: Public schools tackle coronavirus outbreak Daily Journal, March 12
The Economy and Free Enterprise
Sanders: How is tripling the price of eggs NOT ‘gouging’? WRAL’s Smart Shopper writes a smart piece The Locker Room, March 31
Coletti: How far will your federal coronavirus payment go? The Locker Room, March 30
Sanders: Raleigh restaurants, before and after the shutdown order The Locker Room, March 30
Guze: “If we keep up our current strategy of suppression based on indiscriminate social distance for 12 to 18 months, most of us will still be alive. It is our economy that will be dead.” The Locker Room, March 26
Roy Cordato, Senior Economist, Emeritus: How “price gouging” laws subsidize hoarding Research Brief, March 24
Coletti: Federal largesse and state priorities during and after the COVID-19 outbreak Research Brief, March 23
Sanders: Lift ABC rules against to-go cups to help restaurants and bars hurt by Cooper’s edict The Locker Room, March 18
Stoops: Professor calls on governor to suspend rent, mortgage, and utility payments The Locker Room, March 18
Sanders: Does Gov. Cooper want more supplies or not? Mixed signals from his executive order The Locker Room, March 17
Coletti: Available funds to meet “significant economic changes” The Locker Room, March 17
* Coletti: North Carolina’s COVID-19 Response: Workforce and the Economy Research Brief, March 17
* Coletti: North Carolina’s COVID-19 Response: State Budget Research Brief, March 16
Coletti (guest): COVID-19 and North Carolina’s Future Shaftesbury Society, March 16
Guze: A Leftist Environmentalist Reveals His True Colors The Locker Room, March 13
Coletti: Estimating the impact of coronavirus on state spending and taxes Research Brief, March 12
Second Amendment
Sanders: Gun stores, manufacturers, even shooting ranges added to DHS list of critical infrastructure The Locker Room, March 29
Sanders: Make it explicit that gun and ammo sales are essential services in an emergency Research Brief, March 27
Sanders: What rights? Wake County really, really wants to shut down guns and ammo sales The Locker Room, March 27
Sanders: If there are essential businesses, gun stores have to be among them The Locker Room, March 25
Sanders: Wake County sheriff suspends pistol permitting, blames high demand and COVID-19 concerns The Locker Room, March 24
Regulation, Law, and Criminal Justice
Sanders: Pandemic or not, the governor can’t issue orders unilaterally Daily Journal, March 27
Guze: How should correctional institutions deal with COVID-19? Research Brief, March 26
Sanders: Will it have been worth it? The Locker Room, March 26
* Sanders: North Carolina’s COVID-19 Response: Regulation and Red Tape Research Brief, March 18
Sanders (guest): COVID-19 and North Carolina’s Future Shaftesbury Society, March 16
Miscellaneous
Stoops: Americans can relate to this Spanish Flu poem from 1918 The Locker Room, March 23
Stoops: Gaston Co. teacher hopes crisis leads to Democratic wins The Locker Room, March 23
Guze: North Carolina Based Company Hanesbrands Steps Up The Locker Room, March 22
Guze: Interesting Suggestion from Lyman Stone The Locker Room, March 20
Sanders: The Ultimate Resource in the battle against the coronavirus Research Brief, March 19
Sanders: What is our ‘Ultimate Resource’ in battling the coronavirus? The Locker Room, March 19
Guze: Coronavirus: If Matt Ridley’s Worried, We Should All Be Worried The Locker Room, March 11
