Last night’s League of California Cities Update:
East Bay Mayors, Council Members & City Management:
It has been an incredible week of actions and announcements. We continue to applaud you and thank you for your service and leadership to your cities through this public health crisis!
Today, after the U.S. House voted on the third federal stimulus package, the President signed it into law this evening. We are aware and understand the many concerns about the population threshold of 500,000. This is a significant issue of importance to the League of CA Cities and the National League of Cities, and we will continue to advocate for that in the next stimulus package (see NLC’s letter “NLC 2020 Letter…” requesting this and other items). Various briefings are attached of the third package including by NLC (specifically city-focused), Senate Democrats, and the White House.
The Governor released two executive orders today – eviction moratorium and Judicial Council emergency authority. You will find more information under “Governor Actions / Announcements”. The USNS Mercy arrived at the Port of Los Angeles today and Governor Newsom and Mayor Garcetti conducted a press conference (due to recording difficultly, no notes available today). USNS Mercy is a 1000 bed floating hospital and is being pressed into service at the Port for non-COVID-19 patients to help relieve pressure from local hospitals as they work on the surge of coronavirus infections.
League leadership spoke with the California Transportation Commission this morning regarding the list cities are required to develop of projects they propose to be funded with SB 1 transportations funds by May 1. The Commission plans to take up this issue at their next meeting on April 29 to extend this date. The Commission is working with the State Controller’s Office on a date that would provide relief to cities, but also not hinder the Controller from distributing funds to cities. It is possible this date will be extended to June 30. We will share the official staff recommendation on this issue once we receive it, but do plan on this date being extended some.
Upcoming COVID-19 related webinars (click the links for more information or to pre-register):
· March 30, 11 – 11:30 AM: (Hosted by the League of CA Cities) COVID-19 Webinar Series: City Parking Requirements
· March 31, 11 – Noon: (Hosted by the League of CA Cities) CARES Act Briefing with the National League of Cities
· April 1, 9 – 10 AM: (Hosted by the Institute for Local Government) Transparency, Public Access & Trust: Keeping Local Government Open Through Social Distancing
· April 2, 10 – 11 AM: (Hosted by the Institute for Local Government) Managing Human Resources During a Public Health Crisis
Additional documents attached include today’s CalOES’ daily briefing and notes from the CalOES State and federal government briefing.
Governor Actions / Announcements
Specifically, the executive order empowers the Judicial Council and the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court to take necessary action to be able to conduct business and continue to operate while responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The order does not affect any existing court order or rule. The text of the order can be found here.
The executive order bans the enforcement of eviction orders for renters affected by COVID-19 through May 31, 2020. The order prohibits landlords from evicting tenants for nonpayment of rent and prohibits enforcement of evictions by law enforcement or courts. It also requires tenants to declare in writing, no more than seven days after the rent comes due, that the tenant cannot pay all or part of their rent due to COVID-19. Today’s action builds on Governor Newsom’s previous executive order authorizing local governments to halt evictions for renters impacted by the pandemic. The text of the order can also be found here.
Other State Actions / Announcements
· GO-Biz Resources:
· On March 24, Isabel Guzman, GO-Biz's Director of the Office of the Small Business Advocate participated in a conference call between the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) California members and other state officials, including Labor Secretary Julie A. Su, to share information on how California is working to help our small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Click here to listen to the call.
· The state of California supports a network of small business support centers to help businesses figure out which loans are best for them, develop resiliency strategies, and find other resources. As the new federal stimulus package becomes available through federal agencies, these centers can help businesses navigate the options. Click here to learn more.
· GO-Biz FAQ for small businesses.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles announced in a memo to employees that it is closing all its field offices to the public starting today.
Legislative Analyst’s Office released today information about Federal Paid Leave for Workers Impacted by COVID-19. On Wednesday, March 18, 2020, the President signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (H.R. 6201), the second federal relief act aimed at mitigating the economic and public health consequences of COVID-19. In this post, we summarize the two forms of paid leave required under H.R. 6201, discuss how these interact with other state benefit programs, and highlight key issues for the Legislature to consider as it responds to the ongoing crisis.
Federal Actions / Announcements
· Daily FEMA update
· The Department of Homeland Security announced the new deadline for REAL ID enforcement is October 1, 2021.
· NLC Update:
Early this afternoon, the House passed the CARES Act, H.R. 748, the third stimulus bill. This evening, President Donald Trump signed the bill into law.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that a fourth bill would be coming. State and local governments, Pelosi said, will need "vastly more infusions" of aid to help them combat the COVID-19 crisis.
Attached you will find a letter NLC sent to Congressional leaders yesterday outlining our priorities for a fourth bill.
The federal advocacy team has begun to develop the asks for the 4th supplemental and look forward to working with each of you on that request. Please know that we plan to lobby for direct sources of revenue that all cities, towns and villages will be able to access, regardless of population size.
Additionally, attached you will find the final take by NLC's team of lobbyists about HR. 748's provisions and what they mean for local governments.
Finally, in this blog, the NLC staff broke down how much cities with a population in excess of 500,000 should expect to receive from the state and local government fund, a provision contained in the CARES Act. This blog and the formula it used was based upon how the legislative text reads currently. Please note, we understand that the way the formula is written, needs to be cleaned up. We have already drafted a letter to Treasury urging them to do so that local units of government with populations below 500,000 will be able to access funds from each state's disbursement.
If you have any COVID-19 related questions, please email covid-19@cacities.org.
Sam Caygill
Regional Public Affairs Manager | East Bay Division
League of California Cities
p. 916-402-7258 | e. scaygill@cacities.org
Strengthening California Cities
Through Education & Advocacy
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