Arkansas
As of April 14th
The number of cases in Arkansas are up to 1,498. First responders and front-line workers can now file Workman’s compensation claims if there is a causal connection between their work responsibilities and contracting COVID-19. Liability immunity for medical emergency responders including physicians, physicians assistants, special assistants, nurse practitioners, registered nurses and licensed practical nurses related to COVID-19 operations.
Finally, there will be immediate placement of message boards on roadways advising there is no recreational lodging in Arkansas from out of state visitors.
Connecticut
As of April 15th
Governor Lamont signs 27th executive order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19
Governor Lamont yesterday signed another executive order – the 27th since he enacted the emergency declarations. Executive Order No. 7Z enacts the following provisions:
- Temporarily waives certain requirements related to state contracts in order to expedite the procurement of essential goods and services, including personal protective equipment (PPE), that are needed urgently to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Allows property owners or their attorney or agent to appear before a board of assessment appeals using remote technology instead of in person.
- Authorizes the commissioner of the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection to waive licensing requirements to temporarily allow security services or businesses to employ security officers who are not licensed in Connecticut but are licensed in another state, to address a shortage of available security officers. This applies only to unarmed security officers.
Department of Revenue Services extends filing and payment deadlines for certain state tax returns
To provide relief to Connecticut taxpayers during the COVID-19 outbreak, the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services is extending the filing and payment deadlines of certain returns until July 15, 2020. These extensions align Connecticut tax filing and payment dates with filing and payment extensions recently announced by the Internal Revenue Service.
For more information, read the press release issued by the Department of Revenue Services.
Data updates on COVID-19 testing in Connecticut
Since yesterday’s update, an additional 608 positive COVID-19 cases have been reported in Connecticut, bringing the statewide total to 13,989. To date, more than 45,841 patients have been tested in Connecticut. Approximately 1,779 patients have been hospitalized. The total number of COVID-19 associated fatalities statewide is 671.
Georgia
As of April 15th
- Daily State Public Health stats: State cases are up to 14,987 at noon today as compared to 14,578 Tuesday night. Georgia is up to 552 deaths up from 524 Tuesday night. 2,922 patients are hospitalized as compared to 2,858 on Tuesday night. Dougherty, Fulton and Cobb Counties have the most cases in our State.
- IHME predicts that Georgia will now peak on May 1 with 91 deaths on May 3. IHME predicts a shortage of 218 ICU beds and 715 ventilators [both numbers less than before].
- Delta Airlines will receive US$5.4 billion in government rescue funds and the US will acquire about one percent of Delta stock.
- The Board of Regents approved the establishment of the John H. “Johnny” Isakson Chair for Parkinson’s Research at UGA.
- The USG also announced that they face revenue losses of US$340 – 350 million through this summer because of virus impacts. The System will get an estimated US$125 million from CARES.
- The State Ethics Commission voted 3-2 yesterday that legislators can’t raise money while the General Assembly is suspended.
Local
- About 50 members of the Georgia National Guard are assisting APS with its new weekly food distribution program.
Kansas
As of April 15th
Governor Laura Kelly announced that she is extending the stay-at-home order in Kansas until May 3, 2020. According to the Governor, this decision was made with input from Missouri Governor Mike Parson and leaders from the Kansas City metropolitan area.
Virginia
As of April 15th
COVID-19 data in Virginia, as of Wednesday, April 15:
Total cases: 6,500
Hospitalizations: 1,048
Deaths: 95
Gov. Ralph Northam announced on Wednesday that he is extending the mandated closure of non-essential businesses by two weeks, until May 8, and reiterated his call for all Virginians to wear face coverings in public.
The governor stopped short of following his counterpart in New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who on Wednesday ordered all New Yorkers to start wearing face coverings in public. Northam, however, strongly advised all Virginians to do so during a press conference in which he and his administration provided an update to COVID-19 response efforts.
Those efforts include designating additional resources, provided through US$70 million in federal funds, to subsidize childcare services needed by first-responders and other essential workers. The deadline for state individual income tax payments has been extended by one month to June 1 with no interest or penalty, the governor said.
Northam said he continues to have discussions with leaders in neighboring states and the District of Columbia regarding when to start reopening businesses and building “a new normal.”
“Right now, that new normal will probably look like covering your face, spending more time at home, teleworking if you can, continuing to do social distancing, staying away from large gatherings.”
The extended closure of non-essential businesses affects indoor recreation and entertainment-oriented businesses, hair salons and barber shops, museums and fitness centers. A stay-at-home order remains in effect until June 10, and it remains too early to know whether that order will be lifted early or extended, the governor said.
The more densely populated Richmond, Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads regions have shown the greatest numbers of COVID-19 cases. The governor has approved plans to build temporary hospital facilities at the Dulles Expo Center in Northern Virginia, as well as at the Richmond and Hampton Roads convention centers, to alleviate pressure on existing hospital facilities. Design and construction are expected to take six weeks, which would allow the first patients to be admitted at the temporary facilities in mid-May, Northam said.
New modeling from the University of Virginia has shown COVID-19 cases are expected to peak in Virginia in late April or early May, Northam said. A premature return to pre-COVID-19 conditions would result in a more significant surge in cases, he said.
Legislative session
State legislators are set to reconvene in Richmond on April 22 to consider the governor’s amendments to the budget and other bills, including his decision to delay a minimum wage hike and the ability of local government employees to unionize until May 2021. The governor’s budget amendments include striking about US$2 billion in proposed new spending over the biennium as the pandemic rendered revenue forecasts useless and caused economic activity to collapse.
The House of Delegates plans to reconvene outside the state Capitol; the Senate is scheduled to meet at the Science Museum of Virginia.
Legislators are expected to take up a proposal that pushes next month’s municipal elections to November as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Existing law authorizes the governor to delay primary elections by two weeks, and Northam has already announced he is exercising that authority with respect to congressional primaries scheduled for June 9. Those elections will now be held on June 23.
Northam, meanwhile, signed the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which trades higher consumer electricity bills in exchange for the early retirement of coal plants, greater use of renewable energy and a carbon-free electricity grid by 2050, and the Clean Energy and Community Flood Preparedness Act, which establishes a carbon dioxide cap-and-trade program and a low-interest loan program to help communities deal with recurrent flooding.
He signed House Bill 1537, which authorizes localities to remove Confederate monuments, and House Bill 972, which decriminalizes simple possession of marijuana and assesses a US$25 civil penalty. The governor approved making Election Day a state holiday, expanded early and absentee voting, and repealed voter ID requirements. He proposed delaying a ban on electronic skill games and instead taxing their profits, a move that is expected to generate up to US$150 million in annual revenue if legislators agree to it.
The governor also approved lowering vehicle registration fees while hiking the gas tax by five cents per gallon over each of the next two years, and affirmed a budget amendment that doubles the cigarette tax to 60 cents per pack. Northam expanded parole eligibility and announced a budget amendment allowing for the release of qualifying inmates with less than a year remaining on their sentence, a step that criminal justice reform advocates have urged in response to the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Unemployment
A surge in unemployment forced state officials to upgrade the state employment commission’s server capacity and expand call center staffing.
More than 147,000 Virginians applied for unemployment benefits in the week ending April 4, bringing the three-week total to 306,143. The figure equals all of the previous weeks’ claims from 2018, 2019, and 2020 combined, according to the Virginia Employment Commission, and affects sectors ranging from food service to transportation to manufacturing.
Medicaid enrollment also has jumped; more than 400,000 Virginians have enrolled in the state-run health insurance program.
Wisconsin
As of April 14th
In Extraordinary Session Assembly Passes AB 1038, Wisconsin’s COVID-19 Response Bill
For the first time in state history the Wisconsin State Assembly convened a partially virtual session today to take action on Assembly Bill 1038, Wisconsin’s COVID-19 Response Bill. There were 42 members of the State Assembly physically present in the chamber and 57 members of the State Assembly participating via Skype.
The driving motivation behind the legislation was to ensure that the state did not have any regulatory or statutory impediments to receive the US$2 billion in federal assistance earmarked for Wisconsin under the CARES Act. In addition, among many other provisions, the legislation eliminates the waiting period to receive unemployment assistance, expands SeniorCare to include vaccinations, prohibits copays for COVID-19 testing and allows pharmacists to extend prescriptions. A Legislative Fiscal Bureau memo describing all of the provisions in AB 1038 can be found here.
There were three Democratic amendments that were introduced and tabled on party-line votes and not debated. The three amendments would have lengthened the timeline of provisions in the legislation that expire when the Governor’s March 12th Executive Order 72 public health emergency order expires, includes funding for some of the initiatives the Governor proposed and would make changes to how the remainder of the 2020 elections in Wisconsin are conducted. A Legislative Fiscal Bureau memo that describes the three amendments can be found here.
Assembly Amendment 4 to AB 1038 was offered by the Republicans and made what the Republicans argued were technical changes to the bill regarding timelines for phasing out provisions once the public health emergency is over. Assembly Democratic Leader Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh) argued that the provisions were a little beyond technical changes. That amendment was adopted on a party-line 63-36 vote. A Legislative Fiscal Bureau memo that describes the amendment can be found here.
Following brief remarks from Assembly Minority Leader Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh) and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester), where they both noted the collegiality in working on this package of bills and the shared expectation for the Legislature to work together during this health emergency, AB 1038 passed on a 97-2 vote. Milwaukee Assembly Democrats State Reps. Jonathan Brostoff and Marisabel Cabrera were the only two “no” votes. (link to their statement)
Upon passage Assembly Speaker Vos released the following statement:
“I’m pleased with the near unanimous vote on the Coronavirus Response Bill. There was a collaborative effort in crafting the legislation, using input from Democrats, Republicans, workers, business owners, healthcare providers and constituents. The result was a bill that bolsters the state’s response to the public health emergency. This vote proves that our state can come together during these unprecedented times.”
Co-Chair of the Joint Committee on Finance Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette) released the following statement:
“Today, the State Assembly passed a bipartisan COVID-19 relief bill,” said Rep. Nygren. “State Assembly members were able to participate virtually and in-person while adhering to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention social distancing guidelines. I attended in-person to represent the citizens of the 89th Assembly District in Madison. This legislation will allow Wisconsin to capture millions of federal dollars in addition to the US$3 billion in coronavirus funding that will aid Wisconsin’s response to the COVID-19 crisis.”
“Late last month, Governor Evers requested more than US$1 billion, a blank check for the Department of Health Services, and virtually limitless taxpayer-funded employees in response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Rep. Nygren. “Today’s bipartisan action will allow the state to sufficiently and efficiently utilize federal funding without increasing the burden on the already strained taxpayer, many ofwhom are now unemployed.”
“As our state continues through the COVID-19 pandemic, I would like to extend a sincere thank you to all those on the frontlines battling this virus, as well as those who continue to perform essential business activities throughout our state. Finally, time is of the essence, I encourage Governor Evers to sign this legislation expeditiously once it arrives on his desk.”
Assembly Democrats were near unanimous in their post vote chorus that they want the Assembly to make a commitment to come back into session to address other issues that will need to be addressed as fall-out from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Assembly Rep. Deb Kolste (D-Janesville) released the following statement;
“Today cannot be the final date the Assembly meets. This situation is rapidly evolving, and we must be responsive to the needs of our state and the many unforeseen challenges in the days ahead,” Rep. Kolste stated. “The health and safety of the people of our state must continue to be our top priority, and our state government must do everything possible to keep our communities safe, protect our democracy, and support our businesses. Assembly Democrats offered amendments that would help achieve those goals. First and foremost, we cannot seek short-term solutions to long- term problems. I am ready to work on whatever is needed to help get our state through this crisis. We cannot turn our backs on the people we represent who are relying on us to act in their best interest during this unprecedented time.”
AB 1038 now heads to the State Senate. The Senate is scheduled to convene at 11:00 AM, tomorrow, Wednesday, April 15th and be viewed on WisconsinEye.
DHS Releases an update on “Safer at Home”
In a press release, DHS noted that Wisconsinites are making a difference and beginning to “flatten the curve.”
In the release they note:
According to the model created by DHS, Wisconsin was projected to have 22,000 infections by April 8, which would have ultimately resulted in somewhere between 440 and 1,500 deaths. These numbers were based on projected significant exponential growth in positive cases; however, since the Safer at Home order, there has been a decrease in exponential growth in the number of cases. Wisconsin’s rate of doubling of infections was 3.4 days in early March and, over the past two weeks, the rate of doubling is now approximately 12 days.
Link to release
Updated numbers released on Tuesday:
Of note over the weekend are the following new numbers (as of latest 4/12/2020 postings):
- 37,997 negative tests
- +2,081 over reported on Monday
- 3,555 confirmed cases
- +127 over reported on Monday
- 170 deaths
- +16 over reported on Monday
- 441 Hospital Admissions (161 patients in ICU)
- Hospital admissions are +10 compared to those reported on Monday (-2 ICU patients)
Sources:
Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) COVID-19 Situational Awareness Update site
DHS COVID-19: County Data
Daily Numbers:
Cumulative Numbers:
