Office of Intergovernmental Affairs White House Weekly Recap for State, local, Tribal officials 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 including: Recap of COVID-19 National Briefing Call Details of Another Month of Historic Job Growth Designation of Wilmington, NC as First American WWII Heritage City How the Trump Administration Is Committed to the Rule of Law and Keeping Communities Safe Update on Operation Warp Speed to Deliver Safe and Effective COVID-19 Vaccines and Therapeutics Expanded Healthcare Access to Rural America USDA Extension of Free Meals for Kids Program The Vice President’s Briefing with Higher Education Leaders and State and Local Officials on Campus COVID-19 Considerations The First Lady's National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month Event Airport Improvement Grants Announcement 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] COVID-19 National Briefing Call Recap Ambassador Deborah Birx (White House Coronavirus Task Force Coordinator): Dr. Birx highlighted her recent travel in Iowa, North Dakota, Illinois, and Minnesota where she met with State, local, and Tribal leaders on COVID-19 response and recovery. Dr. Birx noted that we are seeing positive trends nationwide, including a 35 percent decline in hospitalizations and cases since the peak 4-5 weeks ago. We are also seeing declines in mortalities, which is an important lagging indicator. Dr. Birx noted that the majority of cases we are seeing is through community/family gatherings and she emphasized the importance of colleges and universities having robust testing and contact tracing plans in place given the recent spikes in case positivity rates we are seeing in college and university towns across the country. Admiral Brett Giroir (Assistant Secretary of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services): ADM Giroir provided an update on the Federal government's efforts to scale testing and support States, Tribes, and Localities across the country. This includes the recent surge of Federal testing support and personnel to Phoenix, Arizona (Pima County) and Honolulu, Hawaii. ADM Giroir highlighted the Trump Administration's recent announcement regarding the purchase and production of 150 million rapid tests to be distributed across the country. He also gave an overview of the Administration's recent actions to protect our nation's seniors by strengthening COVID-19 surveillance with new testing requirements for nursing homes and other providers. The Administration continues to surge resources to our Nation's nursing homes - including having already shipped over 2 million point-of-care tests and over 5,600 point-of-care machines to the highest risk nursing homes (read more here). The Administration is also distributing $5 billion more in Provider Relief Funds for nursing homes - the first $2.5 billion of these funds will be distributed to help nursing homes cover testing, PPE, and staffing expenses. Ted McKinney (Under Secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture): Undersecretary McKinney detailed the USDA's work to care for all Americans from the food supply chain to feeding America's children with the latest programs while supporting America's farmers. Jim Carroll (Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy - ONDCP): Monday, August 31st marked International Overdose Awareness Day. To mark the occasion, ONDCP joined our Federal partners at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to unveil an infographic explaining to first responders how they can safely administer naloxone during the COVID-19 pandemic. As naloxone is frequently administered nasally, concerns about possible COVID-19 transmission while employing the life-saving drug caused understandable unease among some police, EMTs, and others. The infographic explains in straightforward fashion how reasonable precautions can ensure naloxone can be administered without fear of contracting COVID-19 in the critical moments immediately following an overdose. Please share this naloxone guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic with all of your first responders. Keith Turi (Assistant Administrator for Recovery, Federal Emergency Management Agency): Turi discussed new interim guidance from FEMA that clarifies eligible work under the Public Assistance program as part of the response to COVID-19. The interim policy defines the framework, details and requirements for eligibility of work and costs under the Public Assistance Program to ensure consistent and appropriate implementation across all COVID-19 emergency and major disaster declarations. Only work associated with the performance of emergency protective measures specifically listed in this policy is eligible for Public Assistance in COVID-19- declared events. The interim policy is applicable to eligible applicants only and is exclusive to emergency and major disaster declarations for the COVID-19 pandemic. The guidance applies to work performed on or after September 15, 2020. READ MORE: Americans are anxious to get back to work and to send their children to school. The science backs them up. - Dr. Scott Atlas, Advisor to the President August Delivers Another Month of Historic Job Growth Nominal average hourly earnings jumped up 0.4% in August The amount of jobs added to the U.S. economy over the past 4 months, has surpassed expectations by a combined 12.2 million jobs. A record 10.6 million jobs have been gained since April, bringing back about 50% of the jobs lost from the lockdowns. 249,000 retail, 174,000 leisure and hospitality, and 45,000 manufacturing and constructions jobs were added in August. American economy gained nearly 1.4 million jobs in August, making it the fourth month in a row of over 1 million jobs added. The Great American Comeback is underway all across our Nation! Unlike the previous administration, which led a historically slow recovery, President Trumps’ pro-growth policies are unleashing a great American comeback and the recovery continues to trounce the Obama administration’s sluggish recovery. Under Obama, it took nearly 9 years for the unemployment rate to drop 6.3 percentage points, something achieved in just 4 months under President Trump. @realDonaldTrump: Great Jobs Numbers! 1.37 Million Jobs Added In August. Unemployment Rate Falls To 8.4% (Wow, much better than expected!). Broke the 10% level faster and deeper than thought possible. The unemployment rate has fallen to a level that forecasters didn’t expect to reach even by the end of the year. The CBO projected in July that we would end the year with a 10.5 percent unemployment rate. The Federal Reserve predicted the unemployment rate would be 9.3 percent by the end of 2020. The unemployment rate dropped by 1.8 percentage points to 8.4%, beating expectations which only predicted a 0.4 percentage point decrease. The August unemployment rate drop is the second largest decrease on record. The unemployment rate fell for African Americans (-1.6 percentage points), Hispanic Americans (-2.4 percentage points), and Asian Americans (-1.3 percentage points). In addition, those without a high schools diplomas saw a 2.8 percentage point decrease in unemployment, while the rate for adult women fell by 2.1 percentage points – the second largest drop ever. Trump Administration Designates Wilmington, North Carolina as First American World War II Heritage City On Wednesday, September 2, President Trump and U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt traveled to and designated the city of Wilmington, North Carolina as the first American World War II Heritage City. The designation recognizes the countless contributions of the women and men who stepped into the workforce to support America's successful campaign during World War II. Watch the President's Remarks Read More from North Carolina Lt. Governor Dan Forest: Wilmington and North Carolina's Battleship Have Earned Their National Praise The City of Wilmington, known as the "Defense Capital of the State," was home to several strategic defense industries, including the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company. The city more than doubled in population during the war as workers built 243 ships in five years and supported other rapidly expanding industries. Wilmington, NC also served as a critical training hub for each branch of the military, and it is now also home to the U.S.S. North Carolina, a battleship that took part in every major naval offensive in the Pacific. The Trump Administration is Committed to Keeping Communities Safe; Operation Legend Update On Tuesday, September 1, President Trump traveled to Kenosha, Wisconsin (population ~100,000) to view the impact of recent violence and rioting. The President met with impacted small business owners and discussed response and recovery needs with Federal, State, and local leaders, including law enforcement personnel. President Trump underscored the Administration's full support for law enforcement and commitment to restoring law and order to communities across the country. Watch the full Kenosha Roundtable with President Trump READ MORE: President Donald J. Trump and Attorney General William Barr Announce $41 Million in Emergency Funding to Address the Public Safety Crisis in Wisconsin “Law enforcement has just done such a great job working with the National Guard and working with a lot of people .