GovWin SLED Coronavirus Recon

General

• St. Louis launches portal to track coronavirus expenses
  • Mayor Lyda Krewson directed the creation of a new financial transparency portal to show how the city is spending money to improve public health.
• (Washington) Coronavirus updates: Funding for local governments; Western States Pact expands
• Platform Tracks Digital Inclusion Efforts Amid COVID-19
  • The National Digital Inclusion Alliance is keeping an online running tally of the actions that state and local governmental organizations are deploying to keep their constituents connected during the crisis.
• Public Coronavirus Data Varies Widely Between States
  • Calls for more transparency have revealed systemic failures by some states to collect that information when tests are administered.
• (Texas) Gov. Greg Abbott to let restaurants, movie theaters and malls open with limited capacity Friday
  • Phase 1: retail stores, restaurants, movie theaters and malls will only be allowed to operate at 25% capacity
  • The second phase of business reopenings could come as soon as May 18, and would allow businesses to expand their occupancy to 50%
• (Missouri) COVID-19 news: Missouri governor unveils reopening plan with 7,171 cases reported
  • Governor Parson’s order will leave it up to the individual businesses that require closer contact (such as barber shops, hair salons, and tattoo parlors) to implement safety measures for employees and customers
• (Florida) Report: Jacksonville Workforce No. 6 Hardest Hit By COVID-19
  • A new report by an ecommerce software company asserts the workforces in Jacksonville and Florida are among the hardest hit in the country by COVID-19.
• California Governor Outlines State’s Phased Reopening Plan
  • Gov. Newsom has announced the phased reopening plan for California. The plan will happen in stages with the first one is already taking place, staying at home and flattening the curve. The second stage would transition into lifting restrictions on lower risk workplaces including child care centers. Stages 3-4 won’t happen for months as said by the Governor. These stages involve close-contact business and eventually ending the stay-at-home order all together.
• Kansas Governor Says State Needs More Testing before Reopening
  • Gov. Kelly will be unveiling her plan to reopen the economy emphasizing the need for enhanced testing capacity by the state.
• Oregon’s Coastal Communities Hit Hardest By Coronavirus Pandemic

Funding & Economic Impact 

• (New York) Fears of devastating COVID-19 school budget cuts mount; Groups call for federal funding
  • Many educators across New York have called Washington in recent weeks, expressing concerns that without federal support schools will face devastating budget cuts next year.
• (Massachusetts) For Nursing Homes Battling COVID-19, Baker Says State Will Deploy Emergency Team Of Nurses, Another $130 Million
  • At the start of an eighth week living under a state of emergency, Gov. Charlie Baker said the data might be starting to show that the coronavirus's spread has "plateaued" as he committed an additional $130 million to support efforts to fight COVID-19 in nursing homes, where the toll of the pandemic has been particularly harsh.
• (Washington) State Commerce Department provides COVID-19 crisis benefits to those in need
  • The Washington State Department of Commerce provided up to $1,000 in rental assistance and up to $500 in energy assistance for households that qualify for the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program
• Alabama U.S. attorneys announce $9,645,679 award to address COVID-19 pandemic
  • Alabama US attorneys announced that the State of Alabama received $9,645,679 in Department of Justice grants to respond to the challenges posed by the outbreak of COVID-19.
• (Florida) Local Governments: It's Too Soon to Estimate COVID-19-Related Revenue Losses
  • Local governments in Florida say it’s too early to tell the full extent of revenue losses due to the pandemic.
• (Pennsylvania) Tech companies impacted by COVID-19 could get a boost from state funding
  • Tech companies in Pennsylvania are slated to receive $4 million in funding from the state to provide economic relief from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• America's economy just had its worst quarter since 2008
  • America's first-quarter GDP, the most expansive measure of the US economy, fell at a 4.8% annualized rate, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis reported on Wednesday.
• (Wisconsin) Evers administration orders immediate 5% reduction in state spending
  • Evers' administration secretary, Joel Brennan, said all of the state's executive agencies will need to make the reduction in taxpayer-funded operating expenses by June 30 this year.
  • The reduction is in addition to restrictions on state-sponsored out-of-state travel, a hiring freeze with exceptions for COVID-19-related positions and those essential for business functions, and a suspension of discretionary merit compensation.
• (North Carolina) Cooper lays out $1.4B COVID-19 budget proposal
  • The proposal identified three main areas needing immediate funds: public health and safety, continuity of operations for education and other state government services and assistance to small businesses and local governments

Procurement

• 18F starts allowing 'p-cards' for state and local government
  • 18F, the federal government’s digital services agency, announced on Tuesday that state and local governments can now use government-issued credit cards to purchase its technology design and procurement services.

Higher Education

• Institution-Level Data Tool on CARES Act Funding
  • A new dashboard features data from the U.S. Department of Education's CARES Act stimulus funding table, which lists allocations for individual colleges and universities, and links those data to the most recent institution-level data from the federal College Scorecard. The data tool was created by the Student Success Through Applied Research (SSTAR) Lab at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. See the dashboard here and the College Scorecard here.

K-12 Education

• Lucas Welcomes $160 Million in Relief for Oklahoma’s K-12 Educational Institutions
  • Education leaders will have the flexibility to use funds from the Elementary and Secondary School Education Relief Fund (ESSER Fund) for immediate needs, such as tools and resources for distance education, ensuring student health and safety, and developing and implementing plans for the next school year.
• Chicago Public Schools Get A Budget Boost Despite COVID-19 Economic Downturn
  • Chicago principals received individual school budgets Tuesday that boost total spending at the school level for next year by about 4%, for a total of $3.125 billion. This includes what the school district calls the biggest one-year increase for special education.
• DeVos To Use Coronavirus Relief Funds For Home Schooling 'Microgrants'
  • States can access the $180 million allotted to the Rethink K-12 Education Models Grant and the $127.5 million allotted to the Reimagining Workforce Preparation Grant by creating proposals to fund virtual or work-based learning programs.
• (Missouri) State school board discusses COVID-19 response
  • Missouri’s State Board of Education on Monday reviewed its responses to COVID-19, as well as discussed what the next steps may be for the state’s educational system.
  • The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education received an application for the $208 million Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund through the CARES Act. Ninety percent of the federal funds would go to local education agencies, and 10 percent would be given to DESE to distribute.

Health Care

• As Connecticut hits COVID-19 peak, focus shifts to tracing and testing
  • Connecticut is partnering with Microsoft to provide the DPH and the state’s 64 local health districts an online tool to speed the tracking of people exposed to the coronavirus after restrictions are eased.
  • The tracking system will not be ready until the third week of May, when the state expects testing capability to be greatly expanded. The goal is to provide testing of asymptomatic people who are at risk or were in contact with those tested positive for COVID-19.
• Some necessary medical, dental procedures may go forward, Nevada governor announces
  • Gov. Steve Sisolak announced that the Nevada Hospital Association was preparing to resume some “medically necessary” elective procedures in the coming days — the first sign that some restrictions put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19 may be eased in the coming weeks.
• Medicaid, CHIP Amendments Help States Fight COVID-19 Outbreak
  • The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have approved over 125 waivers and amendments to state Medicaid and CHIP programs that expand coverage options and relax restrictions to give states more flexibility in responding to COVID-19

Social Services 

• (California) Dated Unemployment System Complicates Processing in Calif.
  • The state department that handles unemployment claims launched a $30 million unemployment modernization project four years ago that still remains in the planning stages.
• (New Jersey) N.J. system that handles unemployment benefits up and running Monday morning after being down for a day

Justice/Public Safety

• (Illinois) Illinois City Evaluates Public Safety Tech Amid COVID-19
  • Aware of potential budget cuts facing Springfield, IL, members of the city council have debated with their Police Department should move forward with its implementation of a “ShotSpotter” technology.

Transportation

• (California) Redwood City council approves piloting ‘slow streets’ during COVID-19 lockdown
  • Redwood City council approved a Slow Streets pilot program that will temporarily discourage vehicular traffic on certain streets during the COVID-19 shelter-in-place period. The program’s primary aim is to provide safe open spaces for residents to be physically active within their own neighborhood.
• (New York) NY: New York making plans for socially-distant subway when coronavirus lockdown relaxes
  • New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is working on a plan to keep New York City’s subway system sanitary and socially distant once COVID-19 lockdowns relax, and passenger begin to return to using the subway system.
• (California) Calif.’s Bay Area Transit Has Uncertain Post-Pandemic Future
  • While the California Bay Area used to rely of public transit for commuting prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Officials now believe that the pandemic will have a lasting impact on the norms of transit in the bay area.

Public Utilities

• FERC's Chatterjee highlights COVID-19 demand disruptions, resource threats
  • The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chair Neil Chatterjee is focused on how the pandemic may impact generation sources and how the power sector will emerge from this crisis. One concern is whether the reliability will be threatened if some facilities were to close and could not reopen after the crisis subsides and power demand rises.
• Four steps electric utilities can take to support their communities during the COVID crisis
  • This article discusses four initiatives that utilities, in partnership with regulators, can do more to support communities during the COVID-19 crisis.