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Govs On Deck – July 22, 2020

Govs on Deck

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Happy Wednesday and welcome to today’s edition of “Govs on Deck.” We’re still here and we still hope you are all safe and healthy. As a reminder, this newsletter is now going out on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. 


Questions or suggestions? Send me a note at amestoy@dga.net. You can find us all on Twitter too – @A_Tall_Turner, @CEAmestoy, @JerusalemDemsas, and @andersonkayjay. 


We want this to be helpful, so let me know what other info/what other formats you’d like to see for these updates.


Dem Govs Get It Done: 


NOTE: This is an overview of recent actions, not a comprehensive roundup of everything our incredible governors are doing. Want more examples? Send me an email and I can help you track down answers.


COVID-19 response:


 Reopening efforts:


  • LOUISIANA Gov. John Bel EDWARDS announced that he will extend Louisiana’s current Phase Two order, which also includes a statewide mask mandate, limits indoor social gatherings to 50 people and prohibits on-premises consumption of alcohol at bars for another two weeks, as COVID-19 incidence remains high across the state and hospitalizations continue to rise. 


Public gatherings:


  • KENTUCKY’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services issued a new order pulling back the guidance on gatherings to allow only for meet-ups of 10 or fewer people.
  • NEW JERSEY Gov. Phil MURPHY signed an executive order allowing the resumption of contact practices and competitions in outdoor settings for organized sports defined as “high risk” by the New Jersey Department of Health’s “Guidance for Sports Activities.” 


Face-coverings:


  • MICHIGAN Gov. Gretchen WHITMER published an op-ed in the New York Times calling on American to mask-up.


Business guidance:


  • CALIFORNIA Gov. Gavin NEWSOM announced new guidelines on personal care services that will allow for nail salons, hair salons, barbershops to reopen their services by moving outdoors. 
  • COLORADO Gov. Jared POLIS signed an executive order suspending all alcohol sales after 10:00 p.m. each day for the next 30 days.


Schools/students:


  • HAWAII Gov. David IGE said that state leaders are continuing to work toward reopening schools on August 4th.
  • KANSAS Gov. Laura KELLY signed Executive Order #20-59 and shared the details for Executive Order #20-58. Executive Order #20-58 can only be signed if the Kansas Board of Education votes to approve her order. Executive Order #20-58 delays schools from beginning any student instruction from August through September 8. Executive Order #20-59 outlines mitigation procedures schools must take to ensure the safety and wellbeing of Kansas students and teachers.
  • KANSAS’  Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools will honor Governor Kelly’s Executive Order to not reopen schools until after Labor Day.
  • LOUISIANA Gov. John Bel EDWARDS announced that Louisiana will provide every student statewide in grades six through twelve access to online social and emotional learning (“SEL”) courses, recognizing the critical role that SEL plays in promoting student success and well-being.


Health care:


  • COLORADO Gov. Jared POLIS signed an executive order increasing the Medicaid home health workforce and eliminating cost-sharing for COVID-19 testing and treatment for Medicaid enrollees.


Testing and tracing:


  • MAINE’s Department of Health and Human Services announced four additional COVID-19 “swab and send” testing sites, the award of $1 million in federal funding to rural hospitals to increase their labs’ capacity to process COVID-19 tests, and a second round of grants to municipalities under the Keep Maine Healthy Plan to support local COVID-19 public health, education, and prevention efforts.
  • NORTH CAROLINA Gov. Roy COOPER  announced that the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has approved a third vendor to expand free COVID-19 testing to historically marginalized communities that currently have limited testing sites. 


PPE/medical supplies:


  • NORTH CAROLINA’s Department of Health and Human Services is implementing its plan this week to deliver over 900,000 masks and other infection control supplies to North Carolina Cooperative Extension county centers across the state for distribution to farms and agricultural operations. In addition to masks, the deliveries included hand sanitizer and cloth face coverings for workers to take home.


Relief funds:


  • COLORADO Gov. Jared POLIS announced today that the Kaiser Permanente and its employees will donate $500,000 to the Colorado COVID Relief Fund, $300,000 of which will be restricted to organizations applying to do contact tracing, specifically organizations focused on cultural competency within Colorado communities. The remaining $200,000 will come through Kaiser Permanente’s employee donation matching campaign, ending on September 30, 2020.


Special sessions:


  • NEVADA Gov. Steve SISOLAK signed two pieces of legislation passed during the state’s special session. The first temporarily accelerates the collection of a portion of the tax upon the net proceeds of minerals and the second implements the vast majority of the budget changes.


Inter-state travel:


  • CONNECTICUT Gov. Ned LAMONT signed an executive order strengthening his previously enacted travel advisory for anyone entering Connecticut from states with high infection and positivity rates for COVID-19. The order changes the travel advisory to mandatory and has been taken in conjunction with similar measures by NEW JERSEY Gov. Phil MURPHY and NEW YORK Gov. Andrew CUOMO.
  • CONNECTICUT, NEW JERSEY, and NEW YORK’s regional travel advisory has been updated and now includes a total of 31 states. 
  • KENTUCKY Gov. Andy BESHEAR issued a new travel advisory that recommends a 14-day self-quarantine for Kentuckians who travel to nine states – Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi, Nevada, South Carolina and Texas – and Puerto Rico, which are reporting a positive coronavirus testing rate equal to or greater than 15%. 


Other efforts:


  • MINNESOTA Gov. Tim WALZ and other state leaders announced progress on the five-point battle plan announced in May and outlined areas for improvement.


Beyond COVID-19 


Federal actions:


  • MONTANA Gov. Steve BULLOCK, in his official capacity as Governor of Montana, filed a lawsuit to enjoin William Perry Pendley from continuing to exercise the authority of the Director of the Bureau of Land Management in violation of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and the U.S. Constitution.


Economic development:


  • KANSAS Gov. Laura KELLY announced the Department of Commerce’s launch of the new Kansas Certified Sites program, a critical tool that will help accelerate economic development efforts throughout the state. The new program will let developers know when the state has deemed a potential site ideal for investment and development. 
  • PENNSYLVANIA Gov. Tom WOLF announced that Pennsylvania’s Intermodal Cargo Growth Incentive Program, which aims to increase cargo activity by incentivizing shippers to move cargo through Pennsylvania ports, will be extended through 2022. The program was previously slated to end in June 2020.
  • PENNSYLVANIA Gov. Tom WOLF announced a partnership with The Hershey Company to build a new world-class fulfillment center in Annville.


Workforce development:


  • CONNECTICUT Gov. Ned LAMONT announced the creation of the Connecticut Workforce Development Unit – a state office that will be responsible for developing workforce policy, utilizing data to set a vision for the workforce pipeline, and coordinating the state’s workforce ecosystem around a common strategy and set of goals. 


Infrastructure:


  • ILLINOIS Gov. JB PRITZKER  joined the Illinois Department of Transportation to announce the release of a $21.3 billion plan to improve Illinois roads and bridges over the next six years. The critical investment in communities throughout the state is made possible by the Governor’s historic and bipartisan Rebuild Illinois capital plan, the first in nearly a decade.


Law enforcement:


  • MINNESOTA Gov. Tim WALZ called the bipartisan passage of a police accountability reform package measures “a critical step toward justice.”


Renewable energy:


  • NEW YORK Gov. Andrew CUOMO announced the largest combined clean energy solicitations ever issued in the U.S., seeking up to 4,000 megawatts of renewable capacity to combat climate change. New York’s second offshore wind solicitation seeks up to 2,500 megawatts of projects, the largest in the nation’s history, in addition to last year’s solicitation which resulted in nearly 1,700 megawatts awarded. The solicitation includes a multi-port strategy and requirement for offshore wind generators to partner with any of the 11 prequalified New York ports to stage, construct, manufacture key components, or coordinate operations and maintenance activities. 


Health care:


  • PENNSYLVANIA Gov. Tom WOLF announced that Pennsylvania, through its Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, will be one of three founding partners and the first state partner with Shatterproof in supporting the nonprofit’s national strategy to end addiction stigma across the country. Other founding partners include The Hartford and the Brian Mendell Memorial Foundation.


LGBTQ+ rights:


  • RHODE ISLAND Gov. Gina RAIMONDO signed the Rhode Island Uniform Parentage Act into law, updating Rhode Island’s parentage laws to reflect the many ways in which families are formed and protecting the rights of LGBTQIA+ parents. Rhode Island’s parentage laws had previously not been updated in over four decades and had become outdated in many areas, failing to recognize the diversity of modern families. The Rhode Island Uniform Parentage Act repeals the previous state law on parentage and creates a simplified path to legal parental rights for all parents, including LGBTQIA+ parents, unmarried parents, and parents who use surrogacy, adoption, or assisted reproduction. The legislation also helps to improve access, efficiency, and consistency in the courts by creating clear standards and protections for families regardless of their origin.


Other efforts:


  • DELAWARE Gov. John CARNEY signed legislation that brings Delaware into compliance with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s “No Human Trafficking on Our Roads Act” by creating a lifetime disqualification for a commercial driver’s license if the individual engages in human trafficking while using a motor vehicle.
  • VIRGINIA Gov. Ralph NORTHAM held a virtual signing Monday to celebrate the legislation that gives the Department of Motor Vehicles permission to issue driver privilege cards to undocumented immigrants living in Virginia beginning January 1, 2021.


Stay safe everyone and wash your hands! See you on Friday!