Thursday, June 4, 2020

What Should Happen After Covid-19?


We are beginning to see Covid-19 cases drop way down in both numbers and severity as municipalities open back up following government enforced shutdowns.  So, where should we go from here?
1) Property taxes should be pro-rated for 2020- All property taxes should be pro-rated based on Covid-19 shutdowns.  Residential property taxes should be pro-rated and business/commercial property taxes should be pro-rated based on the length of time they were under a mandatory shut down notice.  If they were under a mandatory shut-down, then they should not have to pay property taxes or rent during that time period. Period.  They were denied access to the business/property for the purpose for which it was designed and taxed.  This is a not open to debate and there should be massive lawsuits if counties do not automatically implement this procedure.
2) Mandatory year-round school should be taken off the table- For years we have seen the school system inch closer and closer to a year-round calendar.  Governor Bill Lee mandated that all public primary and intermediate schools be closed by March 20th and they did not re-open for the school season.  This means that children missed 9 or 10 weeks of their regular school session and then started summer break not to resume until the start of the new calendar year in August.  However, all students will advance to the next grade level and all seniors graduated in the Spring of 2020.  This should forever put to rest the idea that students cannot retain what they have learned in the previous year, without going to a year-round school calendar.  This was always a policy not supported by the data, but rather to solve some other problem, most likely the need for year-round meals for at risk children.  I do not suggest that we suspend meals for at risk kids, but to say that all kids need year-round school is hijacking the system for other purposes.  Kids benefit in learning through other means than school.  Summer jobs, internships, work study programs, and apprenticeships are all ways that our youth can learn from environments other than a classroom.  What could be beneficial is to bring back summer school alternatives for at risk children so that they may not only receive meals throughout the year but continue to receive additional classroom training that will help them not only move into the next grade but do so while excelling at their schoolwork.
3) No government employee should receive pay without producing equal work- Schools were closed, government offices were on reduced schedules, state parks were closed, and many other government workers were not doing the work for which they were hired during the pandemic.  If the Governor of the State of Tennessee implements any type of work restrictions on the public, then all government personnel (other than law enforcement) should receive and be burdened with the same economic impact that applies to residents of the state.  Imagine if DMV personnel had to rely on tips like waiters and waitresses in a restaurant or bar.  Just think about that sentence one more time, "What if DMV personnel where paid $2.12 an hour and benefits, but the rest of their income came from tips from customers?"  So immediately any government employee is going to cry foul and say, "You don't understand what we have to deal with?"  You tell that to servers who see every kind of abuse and obnoxious customer that exists.  If state employees had to lose some of their pay during the shutdown, then the governor would think twice before pulling that option out of the hat.  

I don't deny that Covid-19 was an unknown in late January and February, but the numbers were not bearing out the continued shut-down into March and beyond.  Yet the government continued to restrict people's opportunity to make a living; at the same time paying full benefits and pay to most government workers.  FIGHT BACK.  Do not put anybody back into state elected office that was there this year. 

This blog is the opinion of the writer and is published as editorial comment.

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