GovWin SLED Coronavirus Recon

General 

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom unveils guide to lifting state’s coronavirus restrictions
  • California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a guide to how California will reopen society and the economy across the state as officials weigh lifting restrictive orders meant to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
• Next round of COVID-19 response approved in Minnesota, but partisan schisms emerge
  • State lawmakers ushered through the latest round of policy changes responding to the coronavirus pandemic along with an insulin program for low-income people and unemployed people.
• Virginia governor calls for more volunteers to meet COVID-19 demand
  • Virginia's governor is calling for more volunteers, both from medical and non-medical backgrounds, to aid in the commonwealth's fight against COVID-19.
• (Washington) King County’s small and midsize cities worry they’re being left behind in federal coronavirus relief plan
  • In King County, Seattle is the only city that meets the population threshold to apply directly for federal relief, which leaves the future uncertain for the county’s 38 other localities.
• Massachusetts recruits 1,000 'contact tracers' to battle COVID-19
• (Illinois) Running Total of Covid-19 Spending and Daily Spending
  • This online portal is aimed at showing how money is being spent during the pandemic
• Task Force Targets Coronavirus Fraudsters in Nevada
  • A team of 15 local, state and federal agencies in Nevada will be investigating tips and prosecuting crimes exploiting COVID-19.
• Cybersecurity Experts Warn Utah About Vulnerability of Online Voting

Funding & Economic Impact 

• Plummeting Tax Revenues Will Put Governors in Tough Budget Situations
  • As Congress considers further financial help for victims of the coronavirus pandemic, the magnitude of the fiscal crisis that governors and their states will have to face is just starting to emerge.
• Research at Ohio State Continues, Receives Expedited Funding for COVID-19 Research
  • Research at Ohio State continues in new ways and at new locations, as only critical research that requires a lab is allowed to be conducted on campus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Cities, towns call for more federal COVID-19 relief funds for small municipalities
  • The National League of Cities (NLC) and the U.S. Conference of Mayors surveyed more than 2,000 local municipalities and found that 88 percent are expecting to face a budget shortfall.
• Georgia agency receives nearly $16M in grants to respond to COVID-19
  • The state of Georgia has been awarded $15,840,333 in Department of Justice grants to respond to the public safety challenges posed by the outbreak of COVID-19.
• New Mexico political leaders look to support rural communities in COVID-19 relief funding
  • U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) announced on Monday that he planned to introduce the Coronavirus Community Relief Act, intended to provide federal relief funds to communities with populations less than 500,000.
• Here comes the cash: North Texas hospitals start getting millions from the feds to offset COVID costs
  • Over 24,000 providers in the state are expected to share $2.09 billion, and these awards do not have to be repaid
• (Illinois) Gov. Pritzker spending $1.7 million on two flights to bring masks, gloves back from China
• (Missouri) More education, child care aid coming to Missouri
  • The Missouri Legislature had budgeted $20 million of federal funds for child care into the supplemental budget passed last week

Procurement

• (Maryland) Coronavirus: Worcester hires 'consultant' to vie for equipment needed to fight pandemic
  • Amid difficulties acquiring important supplies in the fight against COVID-19, Worcester County leaders decided to hire a "procurement consultant" to assist the county.

Technology

• Michigan seeks IT investment as unemployment nears 25 percent
  • Michigan state officials said Tuesday they’re considering using the added strain to the state’s Unemployment systems as an opportunity to seek funding for broader IT upgrades.
• House members want state and local cybersecurity aid in next relief bill
  • Top Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee wrote in a letter Monday evening that Congress’ next emergency relief bill in response the COVID-19 pandemic should include funding for cybersecurity assistance to state and local governments.
• Esri announces FEMA data-sharing portal for pandemic response
  • Esri announced that it’s been working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to develop a new software platform that the federal agency and its partners across all levels of government can use to share data in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
• Google, New York build new unemployment website to handle claims surge
  • New York has been working with Google this week to launch a new website for unemployment claims.
• Iowa rolls out new COVID-19 data tool as state reports highest number of new cases
  • Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds unveiled a new tool available on the state's COVID-19 website offering Iowans more access to the data behind the state's cases.

Higher Education

• (Texas)  UT to stop non-essential spending and freeze staff pay amid COVID-19 pandemic
  • The cost of undergraduate summer courses will drop to 50% of the tuition rate for fall and spring semester courses
• University of Arizona Developing 250K Antibody Tests for COVID-19
• (North Carolina) NC higher education institutions to receive $378 million through CARES funds
  • NC Sen. Thom Tillis discusses that the State is focused on prioritizing its continuation to pay faculty and staff, and may also use emergency relief funds for costs associated with moving instruction online.
• (Los Angeles, CA) ECMC Foundation Commits $1.5 Million to Aid Students Impacted by COVID-19 Pandemic
  • ECMC Foundation will provide funding through four organizations to facilitate emergency aid to nearly 3,000 students and provide resources for more than 100,000 students.
  • Aid will support students with unplanned financial expenses and emergencies related to sudden lack of housing, food, healthcare, technological access and other essential supports.
• (Pennsylvania) Pa.'s Public Universities Brace for Hit While Lawmaker Floats Closures
  • The 14 universities that comprise Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education are preparing for $70 million to $100 million in state budget slashing this spring which comes after financial viability discussions were happening in February. The system budget was up for modifications in February which was not factoring in campus closures for the spring semester.

K-12 Education

• D.C. to keep schools closed until May 15
  • Mayor Muriel Bowser announced Wednesday the extension of the public health emergency in Washington, D.C., for another month, prolonging a school shutdown. Schools will remain closed through May 15, according to the mayor's new order. Bowser's previous order closed schools through at least April 24.
• Secretary DeVos Proposes Rethinking Teacher Professional Development by Empowering Teachers to Customize, Personalize their Continued Learning
  • DeVos proposed a new funding priority today for teachers, through stipends or vouchers, to select and access professional development courses and opportunities that are relevant to their personal needs or career goals instead of having one-size-fits all programming dictated to them by the state or local education agency.
• BLUNT: MISSOURI TO RECEIVE AN ADDITIONAL $54.6 MILLION TO HELP K-12 SCHOOLS & INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING RESPOND TO CORONAVIRUS
  • Missouri will receive an additional $54.6 million in funding through the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund to help K-12 schools and institutions of higher education respond to coronavirus-related needs.
  • Institutions of higher Ed in Missouri received $206 million and $208 million for K-12 education and will begin with helping administrative needs of education institutions in the state of Missouri

Health Care

• COVID-19 Makes Funding For Health And Social Services Integration Even More Crucial
  • As we look for solutions to the public health and economic challenges ahead, policymakers and organizational leaders can leverage cross-sector partnerships, social-needs screening, and sustainable payment models for integrated care, to ensure that the community response to COVID-19 lays a foundation for a robust and coordinated recovery.
• State Data and Policy Actions to Address Coronavirus
  • Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) breaks down all the different actions states have taken to mitigate the effects of coronavirus.
• New York City to manufacture its own coronavirus testing kits
  • NYC will begin manufacturing its own test kits for the coronavirus and has locked down a supply of 100,000 per week from its own factories and an Indiana-based company, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio.
• Arkansas eases Medicaid rules to maintain coverage during COVID-19 pandemic
  • The state’s eligibility system automatically closed around 11,000 cases at the end of March, and those cases were reinstated to the program this week
  • Those reinstated will have their coverage back-dated to March, so there will be no interruption in coverage
• (Pennsylvania) State eases CHIP requirements during COVID-19
  • Families will not be denied or removed from coverage for administrative or financial reasons, such as not being able to provide proof of income

Social Services 

• Michigan seeks IT investment as unemployment nears 25 percent
  • With nearly one-quarter of Michigan’s workforce filing for unemployment, state officials are considering using the added strain to the state’s computer systems as an opportunity to seek funding for broader IT upgrades.
• Nearly 5 times as many people in Massachusetts applying for food assistance
  • Nearly five times as many people in Massachusetts are applying for government assistance to buy food during the coronavirus pandemic.
  • This comes as President Donald Trump recently signed a law that allocates more money for food benefit programs and temporarily suspends a work requirement in order to receive food benefits.

Justice/Public Safety

• Bill would make COVID-19 a presumed line-of-duty injury, ensure benefits
  • New legislation introduced on Tuesday in Congress would make COVID-19 a line-of-duty injury under the national Public Safety Officer Benefit (PSOB) program. This would ensure any first responders who are disabled or pass away from the disease are eligible for compensation. The legislation can be viewed in the article.
• Coronavirus and a Stressed Emergency Management System
  • The COVID-10 pandemic has been stressing American emergency response, however the American emergency management system has been performing quite well. The article further discusses the effort of communication and collaboration between all levels of government.
• Nevada National Guard Deployment Expanded to 800 Soldiers

Transportation

• Post-coronavirus economic recovery requires EV adoption
  • The article states rapidly advancing the adoption of Electric Vehicles should be a major part of the next stimulus package. The investment would support economic activity and also improve the health and well-being of people and the communities they live in.
• Public transit’s “road to recovery” could include more ridesharing partnerships says DePaul study
  • The article discusses that if public transit agencies partner with ridesharing companies, it may help them better weather the storm in the post-coronavirus recovery. A webinar discussing the study conducted by DePaul University will be held on Thursday April 16, 2020 from 12:00pm-1:00pm. Please click here for more details on the webinar.
• How a hog plant shutdown hits freight – Coronavirus Freight Market Update
  • Michael Vincent and Kevin Hill discuss the economic impact that COVID-19 is having on the freight and transportation industry in a podcast.
• Amid coronavirus, San Jose delays plans for Google’s transit village near Diridon
  • Google’s Downtown West transit village project will be delayed as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
• (New York) Local airports to receive CARES Act funding
  • Airports in the tri-county area will have access to emergency federal funding as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
  • U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) announced Tuesday that New York State airports will collectively receive more than $411 million, allocated by the Federal Aviation Administration.
• Utah Cancels Alert System Aimed at Motorists Entering State
  • The text message alert system Utah had implemented to receive voluntary information from those crossing the border into the state has been shut down due to complaints of the system not working as intended. Utah has not no plans to reinstate system but is still requiring airport passengers arriving in Salt Lake City to fill out online form before the airport in addition to billboards and signs asking motorists to fil out the online form.

Public Utilities

• (Florida) City of Tallahassee could make $6 million in utility rate relief available
  • City Commissioners may be offering $6.3 million in utility rate relief next month to their customers in an effort to help those struggling with costs or financial hardship during the coronavirus pandemic. The Commission is set to meet on April 22 and may make a decision at that time.

Community Development/Housing

• (California) LA County Approves Plan to Subsidize Rent with Coronavirus Emergency Funds
  • LA County Board of Supervisors are allocation additional emergency funding to aid tenants struggling by providing rent subsidies up to $1,000 per month for up to three months.
• (Vermont) Agency of Commerce and Community Development Establishes Economic Mitigation and Recovery Task Force
  • Governor Phil Scott and the Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD) announced the establishment of the State of Vermont Economic Mitigation & Recovery Task Force, which is charged with providing technical assistance and expertise to mitigate the devastating short-term economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and develop strategies designed to speed long-term business and community recovery.