On Thursday, Governor Gavin Newsom signed two bills to provide protections to specified workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The measures signed by Newsom include SB 1159 by Senator Jerry Hill and AB 685 by Assembly Member Eloise Gómez Reyes. SB 1159 expands access to workers’ compensation by creating a rebuttable presumption for specified employees, including…
Read More »The Network for Public Health Law will hold its 2020 Public Health Law Virtual Summit on COVID-19 Response and Recovery on September 16 and 17, 2020. The summit will feature 20 concurrent sessions over two days covering critical COVID-19-related issues including health equity, federal, state, and local emergency measures, state preemption, protecting and managing the…
Read More »Late last week, Governor Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-77-20to expedite efforts by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the Department of General Services (DGS) to establish and operate up to three sites for use as laboratories to increase the state’s COVID-19 testing capacity. Governor Newsom’s order comes on the heels of an…
Read More »On Tuesday, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the California Department of Technology (CDT) announced that OptumInsight, Inc. has been selected to develop the state’s new COVID-19 data reporting system. The system will collect, track, and report COVID-19 cases as a standalone database and is expected to supplement CalREDIE. The new data reporting…
Read More »The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this week issued an emergency order temporarily halting specified residential evictions nationwide due to increased COVID-19 transmission risks associated with evictions. The CDC order prohibits through December 31, 2020, owners or landlords from pursuing evictions of individuals who declare under penalty of perjury that they have…
Read More »This week, California State Auditor Elaine Howle designated the state’s management of federal funds allocated in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic a “high-risk statewide issue.” The State Auditor made her determination based on a series of factors including but not limited to the significant amount of funding granted to the state, the expansion of…
Read More »Today, Governor Gavin Newsom unveiled a sweeping new framework that imposes risk-based criteria on tightening and loosening allowable activities and expands the length of time between changes to assess how movement within communities affects the trajectory of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Governor’s Office, the state’s new framework builds upon lessons learned from…
Read More »On Wednesday, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that California has entered into an expansive $1.4 billion contract with major diagnostics company, PerkinElmer. The contract aims to establish a new laboratory facility, expand COVID-19 laboratory testing capacity, address supply chain challenges, and reduce the cost of tests for all Californians. Specifically, PerkinElmer will increase the state’s capacity…
Read More »This week, Governor Gavin Newsom issued two executive orders amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Below, we provide a brief summary of the orders. Executive Order N-75-20 On Monday, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-75-20 addressing a series of issues and areas related to COVID-19. Notably, the order authorizes the California Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA),…
Read More »On Monday, the Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 1 on Health and Human Services convened an oversight hearing to examine the Newsom Administration’s Long-Term Care at Home proposal and skilled nursing facility (SNF) COVID-19 emergency response activities. In opening remarks, Subcommittee Chair Assembly Member Joaquin Arambula urged the Newsom Administration to establish a public legislative process…
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