GovWin SLED Coronavirus Recon

General 

• Dunleavy outlines steps for reopening Alaska’s economy
• (Pennsylvania) Gov. Wolf Signs Senate Bill 841 to Provide Flexibility to Local Governments and Businesses
• Iowa Is Denying the Public Access to Some Records of its COVID-19 Response
• NM Partners with AI Firm for Contact-Tracing Software
• What’s opening in Georgia in Phase 1 of COVID-19 recovery?
  • Gov. Brian Kemp announced Georgia is on track for the first phase of reopening businesses again. He’s also allowing the shelter-in-place order to expire at the end of the month.

Funding & Economic Impact 

• (New York) ‘I’m Worried’: Cuomo Calls for Congress to Provide State Funding Amid COVID-19 Crisis
  • Facing billions in economic shortfall, Gov. Andrew Cuomo forecasted 20 percent budget cuts for schools, hospitals and local governments unless Congress passes a $500 billion state aid bill in the coming days.
• Transportation funding, COVID-19 and economic recovery in NH
  • New Hampshire Senator David Watters advocates for greater funding to help save New Hampshire’s transportation industry, which will affect the entire state.
• South Dakota state government will get large amount of federal COVID-19 aid, legislators told
  • South Dakota state government will receive a total of nearly $1.6 billion from three federal acts regarding the coronavirus COVID-19, the Legislature’s Executive Board learned Monday.
• Tech groups call on Congress to boost state funds for cybersecurity during pandemic
  • A coalition of major tech groups on Monday demanded that Congress send funds to state and local governments to defend against cyberattacks as part of the next coronavirus stimulus bill.
• Bipartisan senators propose $500B rescue fund for states
  • Senators Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) are proposing that a $500 billion fund for state governments to use in response to the coronavirus outbreak be part of the next stimulus package passed by Congress in the weeks or months ahead.
• California) Sheriff Villanueva asks L.A. County Board of Supervisors to release $143.7 million in frozen funds amid the coronavirus crisis
  • His department needs those frozen funds to acquire cleaning and hygiene supplies for the jails
• (Missouri) Parson to restrict $47 million in additional spending as COVID-19 strains budget             
  • Governor Parson is restricting $47 million in funding for nine state agencies, the attorney general’s office and the General Assembly
• Delaware FY 2020 revenue downgraded by $400M amid crisis
  • State fiscal analysts released their first look at the coronavirus’s economic impact on Delaware, estimating that the current fiscal year has taken a $416 million hit so far
  • With estimated general fund revenue of about $4.32 billion, the state would face a deficit of $150 million heading into next fiscal year – a stark turn from December when the Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Council (DEFAC) estimated that the state would enjoy a $246 million surplus at the end of the year.
• Mississippi reaching ‘plateau’ in virus cases, governor says
  • Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves spoke about the economic impact the coronavirus has had in the state
• Daily coronavirus updates: Connecticut legislature adjourns for the year as COVID-19 deaths top 1,300
  • General Assembly will not reconvene before its May 6 constitutional adjournment
  • Any action that might be necessary — including adjustments to the state budget or public health legislation to respond to the coronavirus pandemic — will be addressed in a special session this summer
• (Missouri) Nine additional state agencies will see budget cuts in Missouri due to COVID-19
  • The state’s budget would be restricted by $47 million; that’s in addition to a previous $180 million in cuts the governor announced earlier this month
  • Both the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development were included in the list of agencies getting budget cuts.

Higher Education

• (Harvard University) Facing Backlash, Harvard Will Allocate 100 Percent of CARES Act Funds to Student Financial Assistance
  • The backlash is coming from the size of the university’s endowment and recent financial issues about not reporting research funding. For the nearly $9 million in funding it netted under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, Harvard will now allocate the sum to student financial assistance.
• Illinois higher education emergency fund raises $550K
  • The three major state boards within Illinois serving higher education have collectively raised the $550K  through support grants with its focus on serving the state’s more than 50,000 low-income students

K-12 Education

• (Michigan) Kalamazoo Public Schools looks to open emergency relief daycare centers
  • Kalamazoo Public Schools is moving ahead with a plan to open two emergency relief daycare centers in the district.
• (New York City, New York) As wealthy parents relocate students from public schools in West Harlem, districts are left vulnerable to COVID-19 budget cuts
  • Last week Mayor Bill de Blasio proposed a 3% decrease in the city’s education budget for the 2020-2021 school year and the fear continues that the most segregated school districts will be hit the hardest in regards to resources and technology

Health Care

• State Roundup: With Wife’s Help, Gov. Hogan gets 500,000 COVID-19 Tests from South Korea
• 100,000 additional face masks headed to Georgia to help the state combat COVID-19
• Northam: Virginia’s peak in COVID-19 cases projected for end of this week, citing 1 model
• (North Carolina) NC Medicaid receives approval for temporary plan changes to respond COVID-19
  • The Department of Health and Human Services received approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to temporarily waive certain Medicaid policies
• Medicaid Emergency Authority Tracker: Approved State Actions to Address COVID-19
  • This page aggregates tracking information on approved Medicaid emergency authorities to address the Coronavirus emergency
• States and Hospitals Are Essentially Smuggling PPE Because They’re Afraid the Feds Will Seize It
  • Despite reassurances from the federal government that they’ve worked to properly supply medical institutions with life-saving personal protective equipment (PPE), hospital administrators across the country have been forced to take extraordinary measures to avoid having their PPE purchases seized by federal agents for re-distribution.

Social Services 

• Wisconsin begins waiting period payments, federal unemployment applications
  • Wisconsin is starting to pay Unemployment Insurance benefits resulting from the temporary elimination of the one-week waiting period
• State Volunteers to Process Jobless Claims at Hawaii Convention Center
  • Hawaii has received more than 224,000 jobless claims since early March causing a backlog for unemployed workers waiting for their first checks
• Florida releases unemployment data: 1.5 million claims filed but just 40,193 paid
  • Just 40,193 Floridians who have filed for unemployment since March 15 have received their benefits, according to a new website the state launched Monday. That’s less than 3% of the more than 1.5 million claims filed since mid-March when the state saw a record surge in people thrown out of work because of the novel coronavirus.

Justice/Public Safety

• (Michigan) Drones donated to Battle Creek police to aid in fight against COVID-19
  • DJI website lists several ways that drones can help mitigate the spread of COVID-19, which includes planning and over-watch of drive-thru test sites.
• Texas police deploy drones to remind homeless of social distancing
  • Drones use during the COVID-19 pandemic is becoming more and more common as now the Fort Worth Police Department is deploying technology to help stop the spread of COVID-10 amongst the city’s homeless population.
• State CISOs Adjust to COVID; Is Surveillance the New Normal?
  • State CISOs discuss cybersecurity in the age of COVID-19 and if surveillance will be part of a new normal.

Transportation

• (Michigan) Metroparks to reduce visitor capacity to 60% amid coronavirus outbreak
  • The Metroparks Police and park staff will do parking lot counts three times a day to make sure that total parking spaces within each park do not exceed 60 percent of their full capacity. If the capacity is more than 60 percent, the entrance gates will be temporarily closed.
• (Texas) TX: Push for expanded public transit in San Antonio hits another potential roadblock: COVID-19
  • Expansion of public transit in San Antonio have been put aside as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Public Utilities

• (WA) Coronavirus-driven CO2 Shortage Threatens US Food and Water Supply, Officials Say
  • A shortage of this key gas could have significant impacts on public utilities and food supply, which is becoming a national issue.