Federal Updates
Congress approved approximately $300 million dollars of additional funding for the Payroll Protection Program. Congress is currently discussing an additional stimulus package (possibly related to infrastructure funding) known as the “Phase 4 Stimulus.” Negotiations related to the stimulus package are expected to be intense and will officially begin when the house and senate return to business in early May.
California Updates
As hospitalizations for COVID-19 decrease, Governor Newsom has allowed hospitals to resume urgent elective surgeries. Several cities and counties in California have asked Governor Newsom to begin lifting shelter-in-place restrictions.
Governor Newsom also indicated local jurisdictions may have some role in rolling back shelter-in-place restrictions. The Mercury News said: “When we consider the loosening of our stay-at-home orders, we will consider local conditions,” Newsom said. “We will consider those things not only from the perspective of the spread of the virus, not only from the perspective of the number of deaths and trend lines, but also in terms of our broader capacity.”
City Journal reported on the financial impacts of COVID-19 on government financing. It said: “The coronavirus-induced recession will make clear how tenuous California’s financial condition has become. The state’s much-touted $21 billion operating-budget surplus is likely to disappear entirely under the weight of declining revenues and rising welfare costs. Since March, California’s chronically underfunded unemployment-insurance claims grew by 1.6 million filers.
Coupled with a drop in revenues, expanding demand for services will prove catastrophic. More than two-thirds of California cities have no funds set aside for retiree health care and other retirement expenses; the budgets of 12 of the 15 largest cities are in the red. The state overall owes $1 trillion in pension debt, notes former Democratic state senator Joe Nation. Truth in Accounting in 2019 placed California, despite the tech boom, 42nd in fiscal health among the states.”
COVID-19 Webinars/Resources
ACEC Webinar On Legislative and Regulatory Updates To Property and Casualty Insurance Related to COVID-19
ACEC California is hosting a webinar with Mike Olson from Dealey, Renton and Associates to provide an overview of the legislative and regulatory updates to the Property and Casualty insurance industry impacting California engineering firms. The program will also review COVID-19’s application to the various insurance coverages as well as claims trends the industry may see. ACEC California lobbyists will be in the presentation to help provide perspective.
ACEC National Web Page On COVID-19 Resources For Business
ACEC National has a dedicated web page for business resources related to COVID-19: https://www.acec.org/conferences/coronavirus/
