Across the country, analyses are underway on the legal power of the state to exchange information, equipment, stocks and personnel and to conclude mutual assistance agreements with other states or across international borders. Lawyers in the ten states of the Mid-America Alliance (MAA) – Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming – made a preliminary assessment of the legal authority. The MISSION of the MAA is to “create a framework for mutual assistance between states in a situation that emphasizes the resources of a single state, but does not hire a governor who has declared a state of emergency.” MaA wants to “create a system that will allow neighbouring states to exchange services, resources and information to effectively meet the needs of citizens in the event of a public health emergency.” 14 The results of the evaluation are gathered and coordinated to determine activities that can be carried out without delay by the MAA under the existing statutes and to determine which activities must await the adoption of legislation providing the necessary authority. Because the MAA and other states resolve state law issues related to the sharing of supplies, equipment and personnel in undeclared emergencies, they can also serve as mechanisms to determine the best way to meet federal constitutional requirements. Particularly in the intergovernmental context, prosecutors could examine the case law that defines the “Compact” clause with respect to interstate agreements, to determine whether states have more leeway in relation to such agreements than in the case of agreements with foreign governments. The case law suggests that binding agreements may be valid without congressional approval if they do not enter the power of the federal government or if they do not alter the political balance between states and the federal government25.25 The International Emergency Management Assistance Compact (IEMAC) is a mutual assistance agreement between the eastern provinces of Canada and the states of New England. IEMAC operates in the same way as the Intergovernmental Agreement on Mutual Assistance, but the Governor is not required to declare a state of emergency to request assistance through IEMAC. The signatories to the mutual assistance agreement described in Section 58 of Chapter 300 of the Commonwealth of Acts of 2002 are Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Labrador.
