COVID-19 Update for May 18, 2020

The Economic Development and Technology Committee of the Pasadena City Council is set to discuss funding and distribution of city funds to support local small businesses. The Pasadena Chamber of Commerce and the Pasadena Community Foundation have provided the model for the Pasadena Small Business relief fund under which the Foundation would receive and distribute funds and the Chamber would create an application process and independent selection committee of retired bankers, business people and others. (No elected officials, Chamber, City or Foundation staff or board members would have selection influence.) Chamber memebrship is not required to receive funds, nor is support for the Foundation.) You can provide input to the Economic Development and technology Committee by clicking here. I encourage you to tell the Economic Development and Technology Committee about your particular situation. This is what the Pasadena Chamber has been advocating for since the Safer at Home orders were issued.
 

LISC has opened a third round of grants for small businesses, especially women owned, minority owned and vetran owned for profit businesses. Application period for round 3 is now open. Before applying, please review the grant information and FAQ here. Applications must be submitted by Wednesday, May 20th at 11:59 p.m. ET. APPLY NOW

The State of California, LA County and the City of Pasadena continue to revise rules for reopening of businesses.

Last week , the LA County Board of Supervisors today have extended the stay-at-home order for at least another three months. The LA Times has a good summary here. 
 
Beaches are opened over the past weekend and additional restrictions may still be lifted later this week. Supervisor Barger mentioned that even though they extended the order, it doesn't mean they won't be loosening restrictions during this time period.  
 
The county's 5-stage Roadmap to Recovery is found here:

Guidelines, rules, regulations and allowed openings seem to change almost daily. For the most up-to-date information visit

The LA County Department of Public Health also released the below statement: "L.A. County is continuing its progress on the road to recovery, with planned reopening of beaches for active recreation and an expansion of permitted retail activities coming tomorrow. While the Safer at Home orders will remain in place over the next few months, restrictions will be gradually relaxed under our 5-stage Roadmap to Recovery, while making sure we are keeping our communities as safe as possible during this pandemic,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “We are being guided by science and data that will safely move us forward along the road to recovery in a measured way—one that allows us to ensure that effective distancing and infection control measures are in place. We’re counting on the public’s continued compliance with the orders to enable us to relax restrictions, and we are committed to making sure that L.A. County is in the best position to provide its 10 million residents with the highest level of wellness possible as we progressively get back to normal.”

The New York Times provided this brief update on California:

On Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled his revised budget proposal, which now calls for cutting billions of dollars in education funding, money for health care and other services. He said he would start negotiating with unions to cut state workers’ pay by 10 percent and shave off other expenses like cellphones and travel.

This comes as details about the state’s dire financial situation emerge and unemployment is expected to peak at more than 24 percent.

Still, Mr. Newsom said that at least some of the cuts could be reversed with federal aid.

“Everything is negotiable,” he said.

In the meantime, CalMatters (about the best outlet for California political news and analysis) has a helpful summary of proposed cuts here.

 

Almost every country across Europe and North America has put in place some kind of lockdown. But not every country has experienced the sharp increase in unemployment that the United States has.

The latest sign came with the news yesterday that almost three million more Americans filed for jobless benefits last week. The total over the past two months is now 36.5 million. Consider this chart:

The United States took a different approach, one supported by both Republicans and Democrats. The $2 trillion stimulus program passed in March did include a modest version of the approach other countries are taking. It’s the $350 billion Paycheck Protection Program, which quickly ran out of money because of high demand.

Yet most of the stimulus went to a mix of other programs. The largest was about $300 billion in checks sent to almost every taxpayer making less than $99,000 a year. The typical check was $1,200.

The evidence so far suggests that those checks haven’t been a very effective stimulus. People who have not lost their jobs — still a large majority of the work force — have instead tended to put the money in a bank account or pay down debt, neither of which helps halt an economic downturn.

“Much of the stimulus checks were saved,” Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics says. Jonathan Rothwell of the Brookings Institution is harsher: “Most of that money was entirely wasted.” And Jacob Funk Kirkegaard of the Peterson Institute for International Economics told me: “It is clear that E.U. countries have to date done far better.”

Still, many members of Congress continue to favor sending across-the-board checks. Doing so is simple, they say, and it does help people who’ve lost their jobs. The new stimulus bill that House Democrats expect to pass today includes another round of $1,200 checks.