The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About06.20.20 Email from Shari McCracken - FW_ CSA COVID-19 Update March 19_ Governor’s Order Unclear; Counties Still Need Flexibility; Federal Assistance From:McCracken, Shari To:Alpert, Bruce;Bennett, Robin;Clerk of the Board;Connelly, Bill;Cook, Holly;Lambert, Steve;Lucero, Debra; McCracken, Shari;Ring, Brian;Ritter, Tami;Rodas, Amalia;Sweeney, Kathleen;Teeter, Doug Subject:FW: CSA COVID-19 Update March 19: Governor’s Order Unclear; Counties Still Need Flexibility; Federal Assistance Date:Friday, March 20, 2020 3:29:22 PM Attachments:CSAC Letter to CA Delegation - Federal Stimulus Package - 3.19.2020.pdf Board Members, You may have already received this communication from CSAC yesterday, but I’d like to call out a very important link that you may have not seen. I have highlighted the link in yellow, below. The link information included on the State’s covid19.ca.gov website, that says it contains the details behind the Governor’s Order, was not correct. The link below goes directly to the document that explains the essential services/businesses exempt from the Order. It may help answer some of the questions you are receiving. The State is working on improving their link, though this document is buried on the website. Please know that the State will not be changing the details in the guidance, just making it easier to get to on the website. I’ll send an update this evening with other information from various meetings today, including the EOC briefing. Shari Shari McCracken Chief Administrative Officer Butte County Administration 25 County Center Drive, Suite 200, Oroville, CA 95965 T: 530.552.3305 M: 530.990.5029 ***Please note this is a new phone number and update your records accordingly*** Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Pinterest From: Farrah McTing <fmcting@counties.org> Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2020 10:26 PM Subject: FW: CSA COVID-19 Update March 19: Governor’s Order Unclear; Counties Still Need Flexibility; Federal Assistance ATTENTION: This message originated from outside Butte County. Please exercise judgment before opening .. attachments, clicking on links, or replying. With CSAC letter attached. From: Farrah McTing Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2020 10:25 PM Cc: Nezhura, Lori@CalOES (Lori.Nezhura@CalOES.ca.gov); Farrah McTing (fmcting@counties.org) Subject: CSA COVID-19 Update March 19: Governor’s Order Unclear; Counties Still Need Flexibility; Federal Assistance March 19, 2020 Update To: All County Supervisors All CAO/CEOs All Legislative Coordinators From: Lisa Bartlett, CSAC President and Orange County Supervisor Graham Knaus, CSAC Executive Director Darby Kernan, CSAC Deputy Executive Director for Legislative Services Farrah McDaid Ting, CSAC Legislative Representative, Health and Behavioral Health Governor’sOrderUnclear;CountiesStillNeedFlexibility;Federal Assistance MovesQuickly First, we’d like to thank county leaders and staff for the Herculean efforts over the last three weeks to protect the public’s health, continue core county functions, and communicate with the public. The late-breaking news of the day was the Governor’s issuance of a statewide “stay- at-home” order. We are working to chase down the numerous questions related to the Governor’s action and will report back as soon as possible. Some key questions are included below. CSAC also continues to urgently lobby the Governor for a critical list of continuity of operations requests. The need for these flexibilities grows more urgent by the hour as counties work to respond to state and federal requests and directives, as well as direct “all hands on deck” to protect the health and safety of our residents. It was also busy day in Washington, D.C. as Congress and President Trump implement and develop multiple aid packages to help individuals, businesses, local governments, and states respond to COVID-19 impacts. Please see below for more information. Governor’sStay-at-HomeOrderCreatesConfusion The Governor released Executive Order N-33-20 this evening ordering Californians to stay at home for an indefinite amount of time. For starters, both the Executive Order and the State Public Health Officer’s Order cited incorrect links to “essential” operations. Please refer to THIS GUIDANCE released from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security today for a list of critical infrastructure and operations starting on page 3. We have discussed the necessary clarifications with the Governor’s Chief of Staff and others and are confident that the Governor will make corrections to help clear up significant confusion. We are still working to determine whether the Governor’s order supersedes local orders already in place, but have been told the intent is for more restrictive local orders to stand. There are a number of other issues, including the lack of coordination with local health officers. We appreciate your patience, as we know this is a critically important issue for all counties and the communities we serve. CSAC,NACo,andCaliforniaSendFederalRequeststoHandleCOVID-19 QuickReference:Letters CSACLettertoCongressionalDelegationre:COVID-19FederalStimulus (March 19, 2020): (attached) CaliforniaLettertoCongressionalLeadersonPandemicPreparedness (March 19, 2020): https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/3.19.20-Letter.pdf NAColettertoSenateMajorityLeaderonThirdFederalStimulusPackage (March 19, 2020): https://www.naco.org/sites/default/files/documents/NACo_COVID-19_Letter_3- 19-20.pdf Congress has already approved and the president has signed into law two COVID bills: an emergency supplemental appropriations package and the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. Up next is a hybrid bill. Speaker Pelosi has stated that Democratic leaders are focusing on three areas: unemployment insurance; increased Medicaid funding; and, additional assistance to small businesses. The Trump administration and Senate Republicans are likely looking at providing direct payments to taxpayers, as well as providing economic aid to “severely distressed sectors,” such as the airline industry. There will likely be a fourth bill (early discussions are already underway), which may offer the best opportunity to secure local stimulus-related priorities. Finally, the Act includes provisions aimed at assisting certain workers who are forced to take leave due to the coronavirus, including a requirement that employers must provide up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave for “a qualifying need related to a public health emergency” to employees who have been on the payroll for 30 calendar days. The new law’s (FMLA) provisions, as well as emergency paid sick leave provisions, however, would not apply to all workers. For example, under the law, private companies with under 50 workers could apply for a waiver from the requirements; furthermore, the law would not apply to private companies with over 500 people. It should be noted that the new FMLA mandates imposed under HR 6201 will generally apply to public agencies. At press time, it appeared that Republican senators were preparing to unveil a bill that could top $1.3 trillion in federal spending. Although the details are still being finalized, the proposal is expected to include $500 billion in direct payments to Americans, $50 billion in loans to the airline industry, and $150 billion to other severely distressed sectors of the economy. The Senate measure could be released as soon as today, with a vote likely occurring sometime next week. For its part, CSAC remains active in urging Congress to approve additional funding for various local priorities, including resources for public health preparedness, response, and recovery. The association will be pursuing other key policy objectives, including provisions aimed at ensuring that counties have sufficient programmatic flexibility to respond to workforce needs and administer key health and social services programs. GovernorSignsTwoBudgetBillsInaFlash This week the Legislature passed, and the Governor signed, two budget bills to aid in the response to the COVID-19 crisis. Senate Bill 89 allows the Governor to immediately spend $500 million “for any item for any purpose” related to his March 4, 2020 declaration of emergency. He can increase that spending in $50 million increments, up to $1 billion, however, he must notify the legislature at least three days in advance. Yesterday, the Governor pledged the first $150 million of this funding to help local governments house individuals who are homeless. Senate Bill 117 broadly focuses on continuing funding for school districts that are closed during the COVD-19 outbreak. Schools will only qualify for funding if they comply with Executive Order N-26-20, which outlines services schools should perform during this closure. It would also allocate $100 million to schools for “personal protective equipment” or to pay for “supplies and labor related to cleaning.” HowManyExecutiveOrders? We have created this handy list of recent Executive Orders by the Governor (which does not yet include the Governor’s stay-at-home order tonight). CSACResources CSAC Updated Resource Page Please also use our latest CSAC resource, an interactive map updated with links to each county’s COVID-19 directives and orders here. KeyMessages Please find the March 19, 2020 COVID-19 Key Messages from the California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) attached. There are 598 confirmed cases in California, and 16,900 tests have been conducted, but results for more than 10,000 are still pending. Thank you, Lisa Bartlett CSAC President and Orange County Supervisor lisa.bartlett@ocgov.com Graham Knaus CSAC Executive Director gknaus@counties.org Darby Kernan CSAC Deputy Executive Director of Legislative Affairs dkernan@counties.org Farrah McDaid Ting CSAC Legislative Representative fmcting@counties.org Thank you, Lisa Bartlett CSAC President and Orange County Supervisor lisa.bartlett@ocgov.com Graham Knaus CSAC Executive Director gknaus@counties.org Darby Kernan CSAC Deputy Executive Director of Legislative Affairs dkernan@counties.org Farrah McDaid Ting CSAC Legislative Representative fmcting@counties.org