By Howard Fischer
Twitter: @azcapmedia

PHOENIX — Gov. Doug Ducey used his State of the State speech Monday to launch into a full-throated defense of what he has — and has not — done to deal with COVID-19 even as the state set new records.

In his seventh annual speech, the governor also proposed:

• Lowering taxes on both individuals and businesses, which he said will preserve the state’s competitive advantage;

• Selling off state buildings, which he said are not necessary given the shift to remote work by employees;

• Requiring summer school, longer school days and targeted tutoring of students to help them catch up after the closures and online learning have made them fall behind.

On that last point, Mr. Ducey, giving his shortest State of the State ever — and remotely from his office because of the pandemic — said he’s not going to provide any additional cash to public schools who have found themselves with fewer children in classrooms because of the pandemic. Instead, the governor said he wants to get students “back where they belong.”

“With every public health professional, from Dr. Fauci and the CDC on down, saying that the safest place for kids to be is in schools, we will not be funding empty seats or allowing schools to remain in a perpetual state of closure,” he said. “Children still need to learn, even in a pandemic.”

But Mr. Ducey saved his strongest words to take aim at those who have suggested the virus can be curbed through new restrictions on business operations, closed schools and public gatherings.

“It’s a question that only makes sense if you forget about everything else, all the other troubles that lockdowns set in motion,” the governor said.

“The rest of life doesn’t stop in a pandemic, least of all our basic responsibilities,” he continued. “People still have bills to pay, children in need of schooling, businesses to run and employees who depend on them.”

And the governor, departing from his previously released remarks, took a specific slap at the mayors of Tucson, Phoenix and Flagstaff, all Democrats, all of whom have publicly urged him to do more.

But there’s another reason Mr. Ducey is raising that point.

Several lawmakers are moving to dissolve the emergency declaration the governor declared in March. And in that declaration he specifically forbade local governments from imposing any restrictions that he, himself, had not approved.

If the statewide declaration no longer exists, then local government would again be free to use their own powers to decide what to implement. And Mr. Ducey said he will oppose any move to strip him of emergency powers, for no other reason that only he stands in the way of local officials who have different ideas.

“I’m not going to hand over the keys to a small group of mayors who have expressed every intention of locking down their cities,” he said.

Mr. Ducey’s argument comes as the Arizona Department of Health Services reported a record 4,957 hospital beds were occupied with patients with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19.

The issue is even more pronounced looking at beds in intensive-care units, where 1,158 COVID patients are now occupying 65% of all ICU beds in the state. That compares with the prior peak of 970 in July.

Overall, 10,147 Arizonans have died from the virus, with 627,541 having been diagnosed with the disease.

Mr. Ducey, however, said lots of Arizonans do not have the option of remote work and are not getting direct deposits.

“To make a living, they have to show up somewhere,” he said. “And if the doors are closed, then at a certain point they are never going to open again.”

Then there’s what Mr. Ducey said is the other side of the issue, including increased opioid abuse, alcoholism, addiction, mental health issues and “the sheer loneliness of isolation,” including suicide.

Anyway, the governor said he doesn’t believe that other states with stricter mandates are having any better luck in curbing the spread of the virus.

“They’re still dealing with the worst of it, just as we are,” he said.
What Mr. Ducey did not address is that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Arizona has the second highest daily case rate in the past seven days of any state in the nation.

In that period, CDC says Arizona has 122 cases per 100,000 residents. That was exceeded only by Rhode Island at 130.3.

And a separate metric shows only six states have a more rapid rate of spread than Arizona.

Mr. Ducey was unapologetic.

“I’m well aware that taking the measured, steady, responsible approach will continue to invite criticism from all directions that we’re doing too much or not enough,” the governor said. “The critics can say what they want, but the path I’ve outlined is the right path for Arizona.”

Instead, the governor is effectively counting on the newly available vaccine to solve the problem, boasting about the new 24/7 vaccination site now available at State Farm Stadium in Glendale for those who are eligible at this point.

“Everyone needs this vaccine,” he said. “And the sooner we all receive it, the more quickly we can get on with life.”

Mr. Ducey’s decision to stay the course is likely to get a fight from both fellow Republicans who resent the restrictions that remain on things like restaurant and gym capacity and Democrats who say the state needs to do more to get ahead of the infection before it gets worse.

All that leads into Mr. Ducey’s position on getting kids back in school — and ways to get students caught up on what they’ve missed.

“Before COVID, we had an achievement gap in our schools,” he said. “And it’s only gotten worse,” the governor said, with a definite correlation between that gap and economic and racial lines.

“Distance learning has not been good for these students, who often don’t have Wi-Fi or a laptop available,” the governor said. And that, he said, leads to his suggestions of summer school, longer school days and one-on-one targeted instruction and tutoring.

“It should be our goal that every student graduates high school on time and at grade level,” Mr. Ducey said.

Mr. Ducey called it a “small mercy” of the pandemic that, in general, the virus does not seem to harm children.

Still, he acknowledged, that doesn’t apply to teachers. The governor said, though, that teachers have been put into the category of people who, in most counties, are now eligible for the vaccine.