Updates from Townsend Public Affairs, Inc.

Local Business Statistics:

Eighty-eight (88) local small businesses have registered with the LBA.
- Ten (10) are local non-profit organizations:

These 88 small community businesses reflect over 460 employees and independent contractors within the Lafayette community.
A Total of $1,555,600 in federal funding has been confirmed to date across thirty-two (32) small businesses.

SBA Payroll Protection Program (PPP):

- This extension, combined with the Flexibility Act has allowed us to connect with several more Lafayette business who are now interested in PPP relief funding.
- As a reminder, the House gave final last-minute congressional approval last Wednesday to extend the PPP hours after the deadline for applications lapsed.
- There is approximately $130 billion still available.
The SBA continues to release detailed loan-level data for PPP loans as they are approved.
- Loans above $150,000 have their loan level data displayed, including business names, addresses, NAICS codes, zip codes, business type, demographic data, non-profit information, name of lender, jobs supported, and loan amount ranges.
- These categories account for nearly 75 percent of the loan dollars approved.
- For all loans below $150,000, the SBA releases all of the above information except for business names and addresses.
Lafayette specific information:
- 822 total PPP loans have been approved for Lafayette businesses.
- 718 of which are loans below $150,000.

SBA Emergency Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL):

School Reopening:

Vice President Mike Pence said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will release new guidelines next week for reopening schools

This comes after President Donald Trump criticized the stated guidance as burdensome and costly, and threatened to withhold federal funding for school districts that do not welcome students on grounds this fall.
It should be noted that the Impoundment Control Act prevents the president and other government officials from unilaterally substituting their own funding decisions for those of the Congress, according to the House Budget Committee, so it is unlikely that funding can be withheld in the manner the President described.

Phase 4 Stimulus Package:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that getting kids back in schools will be a major theme of the next coronavirus relief bill he’ll be releasing.
McConnell has expressed an openness to additional funding to help schools reopen but hasn’t weighed in on whether that additional money should come with the types of conditions that Trump Administration officials described.

Updates on CA Wildfire Preparedness:

The Governor announced that California has experienced almost double the amount of wildfires so far this year, as compared to the last year. Additionally, in the past 10 years, 5 of the State’s most destructive wildfires occurred.

The Governor noted that the average number of acres burned is less than last year and less than historic numbers. This year, fire average has been contained to just 6.6 acres, and the State’s goal remains the same- to keep 95 percent of the wildfires suppressed to under 10 acres.
In order to continue mitigating the spread of wildfires, the State budget allocated substantial resources to CalFire

This includes a $285 million procurement for 12 new Blackhawk helicopters. This tangibly doubles the ability of first responders to suppress fire spread.
The State Budget also allocated an additional $130 million for new communications equipment
$5 million for wildfire cameras to identify early sparks
$25 million for innovation and new technologies to better plan and prepare for wildfires
$85.6 million to provide a new permanent workforce for CalFire (full baseline support and not just seasonal workers)
The Governor’s administration is also allowing CalFire to continue the integration of an additional 858 seasonal firefighters though at least October.

Governor Newsom did note that CalFire is going to have less ground support from CDCR inmate fire crews, due to COVID-19 in state correctional facilities. At this point, fewer than half of the 190 fire crews are available to assist with combatting wildfires.

New Statewide and County Closures:

Increases in COVID-19 Cases: The Governor indicated this week’s closures are necessary due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases statewide, as well as the continued increase in the 7- and 14-day trends.
- Positive Cases: 7-day average of 8,211 new cases per day
- Positivity Rate: 7-day average of 7.7%; 14-day average of 7.4%
- Hospitalizations: average 28% increase in hospitalizations over the last 14-days
- ICU beds: average 20% increase in ICU beds for COVID patients over the last 14-days

County Attestation Process:
- In light of this week’s actions, the State is temporarily pausing the county attestation process, until further notices.

Testing:

This week the State will be providing an update on the State’s Task Force for COVID-19 testing will be providing an update on the State’s efforts to ensure that adequate testing is available.
- The State is averaging 107,000 tests per day
- While the testing is increasing, there are parts of the state that are running low on testing materials. Additionally, there are capacity issues related to processing tests, which is resulting in longer wait times for people to find out the results of their tests.

Paid Leave:

The Department of Labor will be undertaking a new public information campaign aimed at sharing more information about workers’ paid leave rights during the pandemic.
- As a reminder, the Phase 2 coronavirus relief package enacted emergency paid leave for as many as 60 million workers, offering 10 paid sick days for full-time workers and up to 12 weeks of partially paid leave for those affected by the pandemic.
- The Department of Labor has received criticism for not doing enough to educate workers on their rights to the emergency paid leave
- The provisions expire in December