GovWin SLED Coronavirus Recon

General

• Remote work to be a 'lasting feature' for state IT offices
  • The coronavirus pandemic could effectively digitize entire government agencies even after public health measures are lifted, according to state IT leaders who spoke Tuesday during webcasts hosted by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers.
• (Wisconsin) Gov. Evers, state officials talk increased testing, state’s response to coronavirus
• Some State Agencies Pause Access to Public Information During COVID-19 Pandemic
  • Some states, including Maryland, have paused or extended deadlines for government responses to public records requests.
• Georgia secretary of state wants to ease business licensing requirements in response to coronavirus
  • Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is proposing to streamline the processing of business license applications to help the state’s economy recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
• (Arizona) State health department tells university COVID-19 modeling team to stop work, limits data access
  • The Arizona Department of Health Services told a team of university experts working on COVID-19 modeling to "pause" its work, an email from a department leader shows. The modeling team of about two dozen professors at Arizona State University and the University of Arizona was compiling the most robust public model in Arizona of COVID-19.

Funding & Economic Impact 

• (Ohio) Coronavirus: DeWine announces $775M reduction in Ohio’s budget
  • Gov. Mike DeWine announced a $775 million reduction in the state’s budget in the next two months as a result of the coronavirus pandemic
  • Ohio’s fiscal year to date revenue was $767.9 million below budget at the end of April, DeWine said.
• (Michigan) Whitmer creates own oversight panel for coronavirus spending
  • Gov. Gretchen Whitmer created a COVID-19 Office of Accountability within the State Budget Office Monday to monitor spending related to the coronavirus pandemic.
• NC General Assembly allocated some federal dollars; more are available and urgently needed
  • Gov. Cooper signed into law the first two pieces of legislation agreed upon by state lawmakers following five days of committee and chamber meetings that were held virtually in Raleigh.
• (Montana) State to roll out $123M in funding for businesses, individuals impacted by COVID-19
  • Gov. Steve Bullock announced that the state will open up an application process for Montanans to apply for COVID-19 relief funding.
• Iowa mayors come together to ask Congress for COVID-19 relief funding
  • Under the CARES Act, cities and local governments with populations of at least 500,000 are eligible for aid. No cities in Iowa meet that threshold, so the mayors of Dubuque, Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Ankeny, West Des Moines, and Davenport joined forces to write a letter to Congress urging it to include funding for cities of all sizes.
• (Nebraska) State has spent less than a third of coronavirus emergency funds
  • In March, the Nebraska Legislature passed emergency funding for the coronavirus outbreak in the amount of $83.6 million, and so far has spent less than a third of it: $24.7 million.
• (California) Local Lawmakers Fighting for Funding from Federal COVID-19 Assistance Programs in Rural Counties
  • Assemblymember Jim Wood (D-Santa Rosa) and Senator Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) sent a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom, signed by a bipartisan group of 50 legislators, asking the state of California to assure funding for rural counties that have been left out of federal COVID-19 assistance programs because their populations are smaller than 500,000.
• HUD awards $1.5 Million in funding to support COVID-19 related Fair Housing activities
  • The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced it is awarding $1.5 million in Partnership and Special Enforcement Effort funds to HUD Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP) agencies to support COVID-19 education activities.
• Audits, hearings planned over Utah's emergency spending power for COVID-19
  • The Utah State Auditor and the legislature's Health & Human Services Committee are planning to scrutinize the state's spending of tens of millions of dollars utilizing emergency procurement powers in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• New Minnesota budget projection: $2.4 billion deficit
  • The state’s budget outlook crumbled from a $1.5 billion surplus to a projected $2.4 billion deficit in just two months, as the COVID-19 pandemic eats up tax revenue and Minnesota leaders accelerate spending to respond.
• Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announces $775 million reduction to state budget; cuts spending in Medicaid and education
  • The state arrived at the $775 million figure based on the estimated $776.9 million decrease in revenue, which is projected to remain below budget amid the pandemic.
  • The state's reduction in spending will come in the following areas:
    • Medicaid: $210 million
    • K-12 Foundation Payment Reduction: $300 million
    • Other Education Budget Line Items: $55 million
    • Higher Education: $110 million
    • All Other Agencies: $100 million
• (Virginia) Fairfax Co. moves forward with budget altered by the pandemic; Alexandria OKs smaller budget
  • Among the changes was a big cut in the amount of additional money allocated for schools
• (Washington) Unofficial numbers show $7 billion hit to Washington state revenue through 2023 from coronavirus downturn
• States With Few Coronavirus Cases, Including Alaska, Get An Outsized Share Of Federal Relief Money
• (Oregon) Walden Urges Gov. Brown, Lawmakers To Help Local Govts. With Relief Funds, As Intended
  • Representative Walden from Oregon is urging state leaders to share the federal relief $1.6 billion sent to Oregon with local governments.

Procurement

• (Utah) Local tech firm says it owns tracking patent as price of new state app called into question
  • Issues related to state contracts with tech companies — struck in a rush to address evolving COVID-19 issues — continue to unfold as questions are being raised about the cost, and legality of a new app for tracing contacts of infected Utahns.

Higher Education

• (New York) New bill would forgive medical school debt for COVID-19 health workers
  • Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., introduced a bill to forgive student loan debt for health care workers treating patients on the COVID-19 front line, many of whom still owe hundreds of thousands of dollars from medical school.
• Teachers' Unions and Other Groups Call for $500 Billion in Aid for States
  • More than 70 groups, including the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association and the progressive Center for American Progress, are calling on Congress to approve $500 billion in aid to state governments as part of the next stimulus package. Increasing aid to states is considered important to higher education groups to lessen state cuts to colleges and universities.
• Missouri Senate passes budget that restores higher ed funding
  • Senators voted 26 to 5 in favor of a higher education spending plan that would give public colleges and universities the same funding next year that they were originally promised this year.
  • Under the state house approved budget, higher ed would get 10% less in state funding during the next fiscal year beginning on July 1. This comes after Missouri needed find approximately $700 million to cut from the state's budget.

K-12 Education

• (Alabama) House Committee Approves $7.2 Billion Education Budget
  • The proposed 2021 Education Trust Fund contains an increase of about $91 million from the 2020 fiscal year budget, but less than the $411 million increase Gov. Kay Ivey proposed before the coronavirus pandemic altered state revenues.
    • $4.9 billion in the 2021 budget goes to K-12 schools and $1.8 billion goes to higher education.
• Nearly $570M in COVID-19 relief available for K-12 education in Illinois
  • CARES Act funds can be used by state and local leaders to support a variety of educational services including immediate e-learning needs, safety and health measures, and preparation for the following school year.
• The coming storm: big budget cuts, rising costs for California schools
  • Gov Newsom suggested that districts should start school early to mitigate the loss of learning that most students, but especially low-income children, have experienced during two months of school closures, but the funding for such changes has not been identified.
• (Wisconsin) Uncertainty ahead: School finances in the face of COVID-19

Health Care

• Health systems must start now to map out safe back-to-work strategies
  • As pressure mounts to return employees back to the workplace, even as COVID-19 continues to spread, healthcare organizations need to implement data-driven guidelines and testing processes to help ensure safety.
• The Pandemic Has Helped to Bring Telemedicine to Illinois
• Illinois Telehealth Options May Stay Long After COVID-19
• CMS Releases New Waivers and Rule Changes for Healthcare Providers Due to COVID-19
  • These waivers and rule changes further aim to expand telehealth, make COVID-19 testing more accessible for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, increase hospital capacity, strengthen the healthcare workforce, and lessen administrative burden

Social Services 

• Why Do We Treat Unemployment Applicants as Potential Criminals?
  • As the number of unemployed Americans skyrockets every week, there’s evidence that warnings to not commit fraud are actually keeping people who do likely qualify from applying for jobless benefits.
• State Of New Mexico Feeding Thousands Of Children, Seniors, Tribal Members During COVID-19 Pandemic
• Some Arizona Parents Haven’t Received Federal Unemployment Aid
  • An estimated 1,360 Arizona parents are experiencing a delay in federal unemployment aid as the state estimates retroactive payments will start to begin this week

Justice/Public Safety

• (Indiana) When Prisons Are ‘Petri Dishes,’ Inmates Can’t Guard Against COVID-19, They Say
  • While the Indiana Department of Correction said it is taking measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in its 21 facilities, accounts from inmates and their relatives contradict the agency’s claims.
• Legislation would declare all first responder COVID-19 deaths LODDs, ensure federal benefits
  • Lawmakers seek to remove barriers for families of fallen first responders who may otherwise be forced to prove work-related exposure

Transportation

• FRA announces more than $22 million awarded in R&E grants
  • The grant funding was awarded by the Federal Railroad Administration to three projects that focus on restoring and enhancing intercity passenger rail networks.
• (California) CCTA partners with Brosamer & Wall to protect construction workers from COVID-19
  • The Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) has partnered with Brosamer & Wall, the contractor on the Interstate 680/Highway 4 Interchange Improvements Project, to create a COVID-19 safety compliance officer position focused specifically on protecting workers from COVID-19 while on the job.
• (Maryland) MD: Pandemic only underscores how Maryland must pursue better connection of Baltimore and Northern Virginia by rail
  • Rarely does such an opportunity present itself as clearly as the growth of Northern Virginia as a tech center that might well be served by commuter rail.
• (Ohio) OH: Coronavirus: Warren County declines $2 million in federal transit funding
  • Commissioner Dave Young said the funds would just add further to the $22 trillion national debt and pointed to Kings Island as an example of a business that had created its own transit system to bring in workers.
• NYC will use powerful ultraviolet lamps to kill the coronavirus on subways and buses
  • New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which is dealing with record-low ridership on subways and buses, is trying to shed some light on its coronavirus problem.
  • The agency will begin using powerful ultraviolet light as part of its beefed-up sanitization program on subways and buses.
• Vermont Begins Issuing Driver’s License Renewals Online
  • The Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles didn’t intend to time the launch of its new online driver's license renewal platform with a health pandemic, but that's how things worked out. The well-timed system makes in-person trips to the DMV unnecessary, nicely dovetailing with the state's stay-at-home orders, officials say.
• For the first time in its history, New York City deliberately shut down its entire subway system this morning
  • For the first time in its 115-year history, New York City deliberately shut down its entire subway system for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to deep clean to avoid spread of the coronavirus.