GovWin SLED Coronavirus Recon

General

• Justice states innovation a key element of West Virginia’s ongoing COVID-19 response efforts
  • Gov. Justice and other state leaders provided an overview of several products that have recently been developed in West Virginia to streamline and broaden response capabilities, including new and innovative ventilator systems, 3D-printed testing swabs, reusable medical gowns, protective masks, and Hydrogen Peroxide disinfecting systems.
• Illinois Has Holes In Its COVID-19 Data. Will That Hinder Planning For Future Outbreaks?
  • Data kept by the state show that in 80% of COVID-19 cases, the patient’s job is unknown — vital to preventing potential future outbreaks.
• North Texas communities launch innovation consortium
  • A group of 21 local governments around Northern Texas announced the formation of a civic technology-based nonprofit to share best practices and strategies for improving economic resiliency, transportation, infrastructure and emerging public health concerns, including the coronavirus pandemic.
• Santa Monica, Calif., Centralizes COVID-19 Online Resources
  • The city has developed a public-facing dashboard dedicated to COVID-19 resources for residents and businesses. Features include the mapping of available essential services and other timely data.
• (Nevada) 2021 special session needed for redistricting after COVID-19 related delays in census activity
  • Attorneys for the Legislative Counsel Bureau told lawmakers on an interim redistricting commission on Wednesday that the coronavirus pandemic, and subsequent delays in scheduled 2020 census activities, meant that the state would not receive demographic data needed for the redistricting process until after the end of the 120-day legislative session in 2021

Funding & Economic Impact

• Austin faces $200M budget shortfall due to COVID-19   
  • At present, Austin’s Deputy Chief Financial Officer Ed Van Eenoo estimates the Fiscal Year 2020 shortfall will be anywhere from $38.3 to $57.6 million, depending on how quickly the economy bounces back. He said over the next two fiscal years, losses could reach more than $200 million.
• (New York) Projected Orange County budget deficit because of COVID-19
  • The county has lost millions in sales tax and room tax revenue and projected out through the end of the year, officials said the loss in sales tax alone would be some $37.4 million
• Asheville zeroes in on $185M coronavirus austerity budget; Here's what's in it
  • The proposed operating budget represents a year-over-year decrease forced by declining taxes and other public revenues. The current year's budget was expected to be $192 million, but end of year revenue losses, including $1.6 million less in sales taxes, caused city budget officials to slash that. Federal assistance filled some of the holes bringing this current year's budget to $189 million.
• Arizona will share $441 million in federal COVID-19 aid with cities, counties and towns around the state
  • Gov. Doug Ducey announced that Arizona cities, towns and counties will receive $441 million of the $1.86 billion in federal coronavirus relief funding that the state received.
• (North Carolina) Local Counties Plan For Nearly $8 Million In COVID-19 Relief Funds
  • There were nearly $8 million in funds to be released to governments in the region, with New Hanover County receiving about $4.1 million, Pender County allocated $1.3 million and Brunswick County with $2.6 million.
• Pennsylvania is sitting on billions in coronavirus relief money. What’s the holdup?
  • After enduring more than two months of the coronavirus pandemic, and with state revenues continuing to tank, Pennsylvania has yet to spend a dime of $3.9 billion in discretionary federal stimulus dollars intended to aid in the relief effort.
• (Wisconsin) Tony Evers announces $200 million in aid for localities as state sees record COVID-19 cases
  • Cities, counties and towns across the state are set to receive $200 million in federal aid to bolster their COVID-19 mitigation efforts.
• (Indiana) State still considering use of funds
  • Indiana is still weighing how to spend about $2.1 billion in federal dollars from the Coronavirus Relief Fund while other states are helping renters, farmers and more.
• (Nebraska) Gov. Ricketts presents overview of how federal aid will be used
  • Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts on Wednesday presented an overview of how federal funding the state has received will be used to assist recovery efforts from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• (Arizona) Arizona local governments get $440 million for coronavirus
  • The state will also provide up to $150 million in cash advances to cover emergency costs for which local governments, hospitals, schools, nonprofits and other organizations expect to eventually be reimbursed
• (Washington) How much agencies and institutions have received in state funds for COVID-19 response
  • The Washington State Office of Financial Management (OFM) published a breakdown this week of how $171 million in state funds have been distributed to state agencies and institutions for COVID-19 response efforts.
• South Dakota budget office scrambles to track costs of governments’ responses to COVID-19
  • Commissioner Liza Clark briefed the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Appropriations on Wednesday about how her office is communicating with people from the federal government and with county and municipal governments on what can, and can’t, be done with the $1.25 billion that South Dakota received from the coronavirus relief fund to respond to COVID-19.
• Amid Ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, Governor Cuomo Calls On U.S. Senate to Pass a Coronavirus Relief Bill That Helps All Americans
  • Governor Andrew M. Cuomo called on the U.S. Senate to pass a coronavirus relief bill that helps all Americans and provides unrestricted fiscal support for states. The next bill should focus on funding state and local governments, working families, state testing and tracing efforts and a real economic stimulus with no handouts to corporations who do not protect their workers and only enrich executives or shareholders.

Procurement

• Md. lawmakers hammer Hogan administration over COVID-19 procurement
  • Lawmakers sharply criticized two Hogan administration procurement officials Wednesday for the acquisition of incomplete COVID-19 tests kits from South Korea.

Higher Education

• (Nebraska) Gov. Ricketts presents overview of how federal aid will be used
  • A total of $69.8 million has been given to the University of Nebraska, the State College System, community college areas, and non-public and private institutions. Elementary and secondary education school districts have received about $65 million.
• How lottery money for disks and video tapes could help California’s community colleges
  • $81 million that could save some classes from being cut are locked up in antiquated legal language, preventing colleges from tapping into desperately needed funds. The millions are reserved for “video disks, compact disks, optical disks, video and audiotapes” and the legal language has not been updated since 2011.

K-12 Education

• Coronavirus: If New York school budgets are defeated June 9, then what?
  • School districts will conduct their first all-mail budget votes in less than two weeks, and a major question remains unanswered: What happens if a budget is defeated?
• Missouri public schools may face state funding withholdings due to the pandemic
  • Missouri Governor Mike Parson announced that public schools should anticipate withholdings of state funds.
• The impact of COVID-19 on Louisiana’s public education system
  • Louisiana Association of Educators President stated that if lawmakers don’t come to a swift agreement, the future of the 2020-2021 school year will be uncertain. Funding will be slashed, class sizes will balloon and inequities will only worsen.
• Is most of the state budget off-limits for spending cuts? New Washington Research Council report answers the question.
  • The Office of Financial Management estimates that about 70 percent of the 2019–21 budget is protected from cuts. If that is the case, then any budget cuts to offset the revenue effects of the COVID-19-related downturn would need to come out of the remaining 30 percent of the budget. However, these figures are essentially a political construct—the 70 percent estimate includes items that could be cut, though it may be difficult to do so for various reasons.
• Federal Funding May Boost Remote Learning Opportunities for Indiana Schools
  • Office of Management and Budget Director Chris Johnston said the state is applying for money from the federal Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund.
  • Johnston’s focus is on remote learning for primarily the K-through-12 school corporations, access to devices, access to connectivity, and training for teachers.
• Utah lawmakers advance most funding cuts to public education
  • Public school education in Utah is expecting major cuts to funding. This amid the COVID 19 pandemic as the state prepares for a $3.8 billion overall cut. The state ordered the Utah State Board of Education to prepare for cuts between $600 million and $1.3 billion for the fiscal year 2021.
  • The exact amount has yet to be determined so the board ran 2%, 5%, and 10% base budget cut scenarios.

Health Care

• 40% of hospitals say public health agencies can't electronically receive COVID-19 data
  • More than 40 percent of hospitals report local, state and federal public health agencies are unable to electronically receive data, making it the most common barrier to public health reporting for the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent article published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.
• HHS Releases Strategy for COVID-19 Funding Oversight
  • Cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, data analytics and other technologies will be essential technologies in the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General's approach for overseeing the agency's COVID-19 response and recovery, the agency highlighted in its strategic plan.
• Covid-19 hospital funding programs prompt confusion and controversy
  • Some providers have struggled to understand the complicated rules governing coronavirus spending programs, while others who have accepted funding have become the targets of controversy.
• Southeast Kansas Mental Health Agency receives funding to aid in its covid-19 response and recovery
  • Spring River Mental Health and Wellness was awarded $25,000 to continue to serve patients during the covid-19 crisis.
  • The agency will be using the funds to cover costs of using telehealth while its offices are closed from the pandemic
• (Iowa) Gov. Reynolds Says Record Number Of Iowans Participating In TestIowa
  • Iowa’s testing initiative for scheduled COVID-19 testing has seen 15,000 residents and plans to continue with scheduled appointments.
• Medicaid providers increasingly frustrated by delays in COVID-19 funding
  • The Department of Health and Human Services has provided $72 billion to help hospitals and clinics stay afloat during the pandemic, but Medicaid providers have seen very little of that money
• California hospitals struggle financially after preparing for COVID-19 surge that never came
  • The costs of preparation (setting up field hospitals, doubling the number of intensive care rooms, purchasing protective equipment) drove hospitals close to bankruptcy

Social Services 

• U.S. weekly jobless claims still elevated; core capital goods orders fall
  • The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits held above 2 million last week for a 10th straight week amid job cuts by U.S. state and local governments whose budgets have been decimated fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and more second-wave layoffs in the private sector.
• Oregon Employment Department Says About Half Of Unemployment Claims Yet To Be Paid Out
  • According to the Oregon Employment Department (OED), more than 400,000 Oregonians have filed for unemployment insurance benefits while 38,000 are still waiting for their claims to be processed.
  • OED’s goal is to process 100% of the 38,000 backlogged claims by continuing to hire more staff, communicate status with people more frequently, utilize experience workers for older and more complicated cases, and using technology to improve and speed up service.
•  N.J. unemployment claims decrease again, but 1M still out of work as state slowly reopens
  • Nearly 1.17 million New Jerseyans have now filed for unemployment benefits and the state has paid out more than $4.3 billion in weekly benefits to those who have lost work or hours on the job.
• Nevada has highest unemployment rate in the nation; Reno's rate at almost 20 percent
  • Nevada's unemployment rate of 28 percent in April is the nation's highest, according to the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.

Justice/Public Safety

• COVID-19 budget cuts deep for alternative sentencing programs in Georgia
  • Roughly $4.3 million would be cut from the state Criminal Justice Coordinating Council’s budget for local grants to accountability courts, a popular program created by then-Gov. Nathan Deal in 2013 offering alternative sentences to curb recidivism for thousands of Georgia inmates with mental illness or substance-abuse issues.
• Bill Could Block Federal Money for Drones Made in China
  • Arizona Sen. Martha McSally is leading the latest push against drones manufactured in China. Her proposal would prevent state and local agencies from using federal money to buy or operate such technology.
• (California) Gavin Newsom wants to close prisons as coronavirus shreds California’s budget
  • Governor Newsom proposed shuttering two state prisons within the next three years, saving the state about $400 million annually

Transportation

• Tumultuous times for transportation industry insurers
  • Litigious society wants someone to pay for coronavirus-related business losses
• $302 million in federal grants awarded to rail infrastructure projects
  • Twelve projects in nine states have been awarded more than $302 million in grants to upgrade track and railroad crossings, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced.
• (Texas) TX: Bus and rail service ridership in Houston could take years to recover, Metro officials predict
  • Bus and rail use in the region, always dwarfed by automobile use, faces not only lost riders in fewer workers and students, but also questions circulating among some critics about whether it is safe to ride.
• (California) CA: Is BART running out of money? Budget showing serious shortfalls
  • The budget proposal, which is set for a board vote in June, shows the deep scars of coronavirus, a cratering Bay Area economy, and widely accepted remote working that may require a complete reimagining of mass transit.