SS+D COVID-19 Response Team: Federal and State Update – COVID-19 Update March 26, 2020

FEDERAL UPDATE – SENATE PASSES CARES ACT; HEADS TO HOUSE TOMORROW
Overnight, the Senate passed the CARES Act. The House is expected to vote on the bill Friday morning at the latest, and President Trump has said he will sign it. The CARES Act is the Senate’s latest attempt to help people and businesses through the COVID-19 pandemic and has been pegged the largest, most comprehensive, and most expensive bailout bill in history. The content of the bill could change if the House makes changes to the Senate version of the bill. Once the bill is signed into law, we will provide separate, detailed summaries of the most salient parts. We are anticipating good news tomorrow that the CARES Act has been passed by the House and signed by the President.

STATE UPDATE – ON FRIDAY, GOVERNOR DEWINE WILL SIGN A COMPREHENSIVE BILL IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Governor DeWine announced that he will sign House Bill 197 tomorrow. House Bill 197 is a comprehensive bill covering a wide range of topics. Among other things, the bill would:

• Taxes: Extend the state’s income tax filing deadline to July 15, 2020
• Elections: Extend mail-in balloting for the 2020 primary election until April 28, Only disabled voters who need assistance will be permitted to vote in- person.
• Childcare: Loosen rules pertaining to daycares, such as rules governing staff/child ratios.
• Education: Waive certain state testing requirements, allow certain seniors to graduate, eliminate “holding back” for certain third graders, and expand distance learning programs.
• Employment: Allow ODJFS to waive the “actively seeking new employment” requirement for receiving unemployment benefits.
• Health Care: Allow recent nursing graduates to obtain temporary practice licenses before passing licensing Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist will be able to perform additional clinical procedures to assist physicians.
• Licenses: Extend state-issued and local-issued licenses for 90 days after the crisis ends or December 1, 2020, whichever occurs first.
• Utilities: Authorize the Ohio EPA to issue an order to prohibit public water systems from turning off water to customers due to non-payment.

STATE UPDATE – LT. GOV. HUSTED RECOMMENDS DOCUMENTING “ESSENTIAL BUSINESS” DETERMINATIONS
Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted provided guidance to the Governor’s cabinet and senior staff regarding Ohio’s “Stay Home” order. Specifically, Husted told the Cabinet and senior staff that essential businesses “do not need a letter, certification or clearance to operate, but it is recommended that [they] develop a document providing the rationale on how [they] qualify as ‘essential business’ and what [they are] doing to comply with” the “Stay Home” order.

ABOUT THE SS+D COVID-19 RESPONSE TEAM
The SS+D COVID-19 Response Team was formed to provide clients, colleagues, and friends of the Firm updates for the foreseeable future on COVID-19 issues facing businesses, executives, and employees. Please let us know if there are any items/issues you would like for us to track or summarize.