COVID-19 Legislative Update
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
COVID-19 Legislative Update June 29, 2020 Legislation Supplemental IV Timeline/Process/Politics: While Congress has been focused on infrastructure, police reform, the FY21 NDAA, movement toward the next supplemental has stalled. However, over the weekend, Senate Republican appropriators have begun to seriously consider what to include in the next package. As the federal boost to unemployment insurance ends July 31, lawmakers will attempt to put something on the floor before August. It should not be forgotten that the most recent supplemental, which only focused on the Paycheck Protection Program and its funding, took multiple weeks to negotiate. August looms large. Policy: While the Heroes Act will not be taken up by the Senate (as Sen. McConnell has indicated), it can serve as a marker of what the Senate will be responding to. Heroes Act text (as of 5/12/2020) here. Section by section here. One pager here. State and Local one pager here. NCAI’s summary on tribal provisions here. Manager’s amendment here. House Rules Committee report here. While we have yet to see what plan Senate Republicans will propose that threads the needle on liability protection, we’ve seen a bipartisan bill in the House on the issue from Reps. Garret Graves (R-LA) and Henry Cuellar (D-TX). However, Democrats have been disregarding that proposal and have looked to Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA) to take the lead or at least be involved in whatever compromise comes out on liability protection. Passed Legislation For past information and guidance and passed legislation, please refer to the archives. New Implementation Information and Guidance 6/27 – SBA released updated data on the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and EIDL Advance programs. EIDL data here. EIDL Advance data here. 6/26 – The GAO released a report that found that the Small Business Administration processed over $512 billion in guaranteed small business loans but isn’t ready to address fraud risks and hasn’t said how it plans to oversee the loans. The report focuses on the government’s response to COVID-19 through legislation and included findings regarding the Paycheck Protection Program, Unemployment Insurance, economic impact payments, and others. 6/24 – Treasury and SBA released additional eligibility revisions to the Paycheck Protection Program in the form of an updated First Interim Final Rule. Updated Rule here. 6/24 – HUD announced it is awarding $962,160 in funding to HUD Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP) agencies in New York, Louisiana, Rhode Island, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, California, Texas, Indiana, Florida, Nebraska, Hawaii, South Carolina, Maryland, Michigan, Connecticut, and New Jersey to support activities related to COVID-19. The awards to the nineteen organizations are part of $1.5 million in Partnership and Special Enforcement Effort funds being provided to FHAP agencies through the CARES Act. Members of Congress in Quarantine or Treatment (new additions in bold) Tested Positive (0): Currently Self-Quarantined (0): Recovered (7): Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Rep. Joe Cunningham (D-SC), Rep. Ben McAdams (D-UT), Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA), Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), Rep. Neal Dunn (R-FL) Completed Quarantine (40): Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC), Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), Rep. Sharice Davids (D-KS), Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO), Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), Rep. Matt Gaetz (R- FL), Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO), Rep. Julia Brownley (D-CA), Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI), Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-FL), Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY), Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Rep. Vincente Gonzalez (D-TX), Rep. Drew Ferguson (R-GA), Rep. David Schweikert (R- AZ), Rep. Anthony Brindisi (D-NY), Rep. David Price (D-NC), Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO), Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-NY), Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-PA), Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), Rep. Steve Scalise (R- LA), Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL), Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ), Rep. Kendra Horn (D-OK), Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA), Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX), Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Rep. Tom Rice (R-SC) Iowa At 10 a.m. Monday, the state was reporting 707 COVID-19-related deaths, an increase of three deaths since the state's tally at 10 a.m. Sunday, according to the state's Coronavirus.Iowa.gov website. The state was reporting at 10 a.m. Monday that there are 28,728 confirmed cases of COVID-19, an increase of 298 since 10 a.m. Sunday. Of the 28,728 people who have tested positive, 17,711 have recovered, according to the state. The total number of people tested is 300,427. Washington, D.C. HHS announced an agreement to secure large supplies of the drug remdesivir for the U.S. from Gilead Sciences through September, allowing American hospitals to purchase the drug in amounts allocated by HHS and state health departments. Supplies will be allocated in the same way that Gilead’s donation of approximately 120,000 treatment courses of remdesivir were allocated: HHS allocates product to state and territorial health departments based on COVID-19 hospital burden, and health departments allocate it to hospitals. The delivery of the purchased remdesivir will be streamlined, going directly to the hospital, per the state’s allocation decision, rather than going first to the state health departments for subsequent delivery to hospitals. You can view the FDA's daily COVID-19 roundup here. The CDC today highlighted considerations for wearing cloth face coverings. Emerging evidence from clinical and laboratory studies that shows cloth face coverings reduce the spray of droplets when worn over the nose and mouth. Wearing a mask is critical to protecting your own health and the health of others. The CDC continues to update its dashboard with new guidance documents and details, and I highly encourage taking a look at the succinct answers provided to frequently asked questions. Over the weekend and today, the agency updated considerations for restaurants and bars, strategies for optimizing the supply of face masks, and the newest travel recommendations by country. OSHA, the CDC, and the FDA released joint coronavirus-related interim guidance for employers and workers performing seafood processing operations in onshore facilities and aboard vessels offshore. The guidance includes recommended actions employers can take to reduce the risk of exposure to the coronavirus. The following COVID-19 hearings are slated to place in Congress this week (** indicates a memo will be available upon request): o Tuesday (6/30) 10 AM Senate HELP, "Hearings to examine COVID-19, focusing on an update on progress toward safely getting back to work and back to school."** o Tuesday (6/30) 10 AM Senate Foreign Relations, "Hearings to examine COVID-19 and United States international pandemic preparedness, prevention, and response, focusing on additional perspectives." o Tuesday (6/30) 11 AM House Energy and Commerce, "High Anxiety and Stress: Legislation to Improve Mental Health During Crisis." o Tuesday (6/30) 2:30 PM Senate Energy and Natural Resources, "Hearings to examine the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in the territories."** o Wednesday (7/1) 2:30 PM Senate Indian Affairs, “Evaluating the Response and Mitigation to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Native Communities.”** o Thursday (7/2) 9 AM House Oversight, “The Administration’s Efforts to Procure, Stockpile, and Distribute Critical Supplies”** o Thursday (7/2) 10 AM Senate Labor-HHS Appropriations, "Hearings to examine Operation Warp Speed, focusing on researching, manufacturing, and distributing a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine."** Updates from the States Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 2,545,250 total cases and 126,369 deaths The CDC data closes out the day before reporting. Cases in California increased by 45 percent over the course of the last week. At least 14 states have announced they are pausing or rolling back reopening measures, including: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, North Carolina, Maine, New Jersey, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Washington state. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) announced a pause on the state's resumption of indoor dining, which was set to resume Thursday. Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) announced a mandatory 14-day quarantine starting Tuesday for people coming from a state with a 5 percent or greater positivity rate. The governor said Rhode Island will move to phase three of its reopening plan on Tuesday. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) extended the state of emergency for Tennessee until August 29th. Local Florida officials announced that beaches in Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties will close for the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Jacksonville will not be closing its beaches for the holiday weekend. Los Angeles County has also closed all beaches for the Fourth of July weekend. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) is expected to extend the state's remaining pandemic restrictions. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) said she would sign an executive order requiring most residents to wear masks in public beginning July 3rd. Not all states are seeing a rise in cases. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced that the state has seen its lowest number of hospitalizations and average death toll from COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Useful state data: o The NYT is tracking which states are reopening and which are still shut down. o Use Johns Hopkins University’s COVID-19 U.S.