Office of Intergovernmental Affairs White House Weekly Recap for State, local, and Tribal officials - September 18, 2020 On behalf of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs (IGA), we are providing you this top-line update of this week's resources, news, and guidance from your Federal partners to help you serve your fellow citizens. Below, find pertinent updates of recent Administration actions including: • A Readout of the IGA COVID-19 National Call • Trump Administration Releases COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Strategy • The President's Unprecedented Investment in Fighting Wildfires • The Historic Signing of the Abraham Accords • $1 Billion in Infrastructure BUILD Grants • Decisive Action to Lower Drug Prices • Improving the Lives of Americans Living with Sickle Cell Disease • Incomes Hit Record High and Poverty Reached Record Low in 2019 • The President's Leadership on the Return of Big Ten Football • The White House Conference on American History • The Repatriation of Native American Artifacts • Unprecedented Aid for Puerto Rico Infrastructure • USDA Coronavirus Food Assistance Program Round 2 • Proclamation on National POW/MIA Recognition Day, 2020 We appreciate your partnership and will continue to share pertinent updates as they become available. As a reminder, IGA is the primary liaison between the White House and America's State and local elected officials and Tribal governments. Please do not hesitate to reach out if we can ever be of assistance. Sincerely, The White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs William F. Crozer Special Assistant to the President & Deputy Director O: 202-456-8491 | C: 202-881-8545 | E: [email protected] @WilliamCrozer45 Nick Barbknecht Associate Director Cell 202-881-9124 [email protected] Gabby Uli Deputy Associate Director Cell 202-881-8552 [email protected] Readout from the COVID-19 National Call with State, Local, and Tribal Officials Thank you for your efforts in the whole-of-America approach to responding to COVID- 19. Below you will find a readout from the COVID-19 National Briefing Call. @Mike_Pence: At President @realDonaldTrump's direction, @US_FDA, @NIH & our nation's scientists are working at Warp Speed to produce a safe & effective vaccine. Today, the @WhiteHouse Coronavirus Task Force met to discuss the distribution process of a vaccine to all Americans. Participants on the September 16th included: • Ambassador Birx, White House Coronavirus Task Force Coordinator • Dr. Jay Butler, Deputy Director for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention • Pete Gaynor, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency • Adminiral Giroir, Assistant Secretary of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services • Diane Jones, Principal Deputy Under Secretary, U.S. Department of Education Ambassador Deborah Birx, White House Coronavirus Task Force Coordinator: Dr. Birx highlighted her travel to 28 states where she met with State, local, and Tribal leaders to continue coordination on COVID-19 response, recovery, and reopening efforts. Dr. Birx noted that 13 states have seen at least a 28 percent decline in positive cases and highlighted overall improvements across Southern states. As colleges and universities are working to bring students back to campus, Dr. Birx emphasized the importance of mitigating community spread of the virus by implementing social distancing measures, frequent handwashing, and robust testing and contact tracing plans. Below, see various news articles highlighting Dr. Birx's recent travel. • Roanoke Times (Blacksburg, VA): U.S. Medical Expert Birx in Blacksburg • WATE 6 (Knoxville, TN): Dr. Deborah Birx Meets with Local Leaders and Health Officials at University of Tennessee • Commercial Appeal (Oxford, MS): U.S. Coronavirus Response Task Force Coordinator Visits Ole Miss • Tuscaloosa News (Tuscaloosa, AL): Deborah Birx Brings Coronavirus Team to Tuscaloosa Dr. Jay Butler, Deputy Director for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Dr. Butler announced two documents developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in coordination with the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), outlining the Trump Administration’s detailed strategy to deliver safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine doses to the American people as quickly and reliably as possible. The documents provide a strategic distribution overview along with an interim playbook for state, tribal, territorial, and local public health programs and their partners on how to plan and operationalize a vaccination response to COVID-19 within their respective jurisdictions. Pete Gaynor, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency: Administrator Gaynor provided an update on the Federal government's efforts to mobilize teams and supplies responding to impacts from Hurricane Sally in the Gulf and wildfires out west while managing COVID-19 safety precautions. • FEMA Response Update: Sally and Western Wildfires • FEMA Response Update: Three Years After Hurricane Maria, FEMA Obligations Reach $7.3 Billion Admiral Giroir, Assistant Secretary of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: ADM Giroir recognized National Sickle Cell Disease Awareness Month, which the White House elevated this issue with a Presidential Proclamation for the first time since 1983. ADM Giroir, in coordination with First Lady Melania Trump, highlighted the need to support children and improve quality of care across the county. Diane Jones, Principal Deputy Under Secretary, U.S. Department of Education: Diane Jones provided remarks on the importance of reopening America's schools, with the safety of students being the utmost priority. Jones highlighted how the Trump Administration continues to work to support safe school reopening for students, teachers, and staff. HHS is providing 125 million cloth masks to states for distribution to schools. Shipments began last week to state departments of health for distribution to schools throughout their states. The Administration intends for these masks to support students, teachers, and staff in public and private schools reopening, with an emphasis on students who are low-income or otherwise with high needs and schools providing in-person instruction. Additional information and state- specific distribution amount can be found here. We would also like to highlight the U.S. Surgeon General's recent travel across the West coast and engagement with State and local officials on COVID-19 response and recovery efforts. Surgeon General Adams visited Clarke County, NV, Kern County, CA, Los Angeles County, CA, and San Diego County, CA. FOX 5: Surgeon General visits UMC, discusses Southern Nevada response to COVID-19 23 ABC News: United States Surgeon General visits Kern County City of San Diego: U.S. Surgeon General Tours Key Sites in City and County of San Diego’s COVID-19 Response Since January 2020, the Trump Administration has led over 940 briefings with over 237,400 State, local, and Tribal participants. Trump Administration Releases COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Strategy The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Defense (DoD) released two documents on September 16 outlining the Trump Administration’s detailed strategy to deliver safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine doses to the American people as quickly and reliably as possible. The documents, developed by HHS in coordination with DoD and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), provide a strategic distribution overview along with an interim playbook for state, tribal, territorial, and local public health programs and their partners on how to plan and operationalize a vaccination response to COVID- 19 within their respective jurisdictions. @SecAzar: We have been laying the groundwork for months to distribute and adminsiter a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it meets FDA's gold standard. Today we released the distribution strategy and a planning playbook for juridictions from @CDCgov. The strategic overview lays out four tasks necessary for the COVID-19 vaccine program: • Engage with state, tribal, territorial, and local partners, other stakeholders, and the public to communicate public health information around the vaccine and promote vaccine confidence and uptake. • Distribute vaccines immediately upon granting of Emergency Use Authorization/ Biologics License Application, using a transparently developed, phased allocation methodology and CDC has made vaccine recommendations. • Ensure safe administration of the vaccine and availability of administration supplies. • Monitor necessary data from the vaccination program through an information technology (IT) system capable of supporting and tracking distribution, administration, and other necessary data. On August 14, CDC executed an existing contract option with McKesson Corporation to support vaccine distribution. The company also distributed the H1N1 vaccine during the H1N1 pandemic in 2009-2010. The current contract with McKesson, awarded as part of a competitive bidding process in 2016, includes an option for the distribution of vaccines in the event of a pandemic. “CDC is drawing on its years of planning and cooperation with state and local public health partners to ensure a safe, effective, and life-saving COVID-19 vaccine is ready to be distributed following FDA approval. Through the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, CDC will play a vital role in deciding,