COVID-19 Policy Update #117
COVID-19 Policy Update
WEDNESDAY 9/30
TOP THREE
4,200 Children Lost Parents: The United Hospital Fund and Boston Consulting Group estimate that more than 4,000 children in New York have lost a parent to the coronavirus. More than 325,000 children have been pushed into or near poverty.
Largest COVID-19 Contact Tracing Study Finds Children Key to Spread: Researchers from the Princeton Environmental Institute (PEI), Johns Hopkins University and the University of California, Berkeley analyzed contact tracing data from India. "The researchers found that children and young adults — who made up one-third of COVID cases — were especially key to transmitting the virus in the studied populations."
COVID Cases Rising: COVID cases are increasing in 31 states. Wisconsin alone saw a surge of 2,367 new cases and a 22% positivity rate.
FEDERAL
Phase 4:
Speaker Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin met for 90 minutes but failed to reach a deal. House Democrats will delay a planned Wednesday night vote on their $2.2 trillion HEROES Act in order to provide more time for negotiations.
According to CNBC, Secretary Mnuchin said they had reached common ground on direct payments, small business loans and airline aid but still were working out state/local stabilization funding and liability protections.
Our partners at PennHill provided a summary of the new HEROES Act.
AEI has a helpful chart comparing the unemployment insurance proposals in both versions of the HEROES Act.
The $32 billion Payroll Support Program provided by the CARES Act ends Thursday which could lead to massive layoffs in the industry.
PPP: Brookings analyzed Treasury's loan data and found:
On average, it took 31 days for small businesses with paid employees in majority-Black ZIP codes to receive PPP loans—seven days longer than those in majority-white communities.
For non-employer businesses, the loan delay between majority-Black and majority-white neighborhoods grew to nearly three weeks.
In majority-Black neighborhoods, for instance, financial technology companies (“fintechs”) and online lending companies issued nearly 80% of loans for non-employer small businesses.
STATE
Arkansas: Little Rock School District parents plan virtual blackout, demand change for students and teachers. "They have failed us in so many ways. The teachers have not been properly trained. Parents have not been properly trained,” Chelsea Hudspeth said. She has a 7-year-old daughter in the district who is doing virtual learning."
Colorado: Governor Polis urged families to enroll their children in school as some school districts report a sharp decline in the number of students enrolled. Enrollment is down particularly among younger students and regular attendance is also lower in the upper grades.
Florida: The Florida Department of Health released data on COVID cases in schools after several news organizations threatened to take the state to court. It has been difficult to access the PDF throughout the day as the system seems to be overwhelmed. Great that the state is finally releasing this data. Would be even better if it was released in a more open format.
Indiana: Facing internet challenges, some rural Indiana school districts want longer in-person school days
New Jersey: Governor Murphy announced that the state had released an online dashboard tracking COVID-19 cases at schools.
New York: Clinicians who perform COVID-19 testing are now required to report information about patients' school attendance, according to a Sept. 21 letter from state health commissioner Howard Zucker.
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
Housing:
Fannie Mae reported that the Single-Family Serious Delinquency increased to 3.32% in August, from 3.24% in July. The serious delinquency rate is up from 0.67% in August 2019 (the highest rate since October 2012).
Home prices rose 4.8% nationally in July, according to the latest Case-Shiller Home Price Index.
Existing home prices hit a record high average of $310,600, up 11.4% year over year, and the overall U.S. home price average was a record $319,178 in August, a 13% gain over 2019.
New home sales broke the 1 million for the first time since 2006 last month, rising 43.2% from last year and up 4.8% from July.
Small Businesses: Vox article covering data from platforms (e.g. OpenTable and Yelp) on small business trends, closures, and changes in consumer demand.
Opioids: The pandemic is driving increased opioid deaths. "Jacksonville, Fla., has seen a 40 percent increase in overdose-related calls. In March alone, York County in Pennsylvania recorded three times more overdose deaths than normal."
City Finances: Report from the Tax Policy Center discussing the effects of COVID on city finances and taxes.
"Cities as a whole face COVID-19-induced revenue shortfalls of about 13 percent, but those that rely more on income and sales taxes could take an even bigger hit because these taxes track the economy more closely than property taxes."
"Other taxes—particularly those related to leisure and hospitality—are even more vulnerable to pandemic-induced shortfalls. For example, hotel occupancy taxes have traditionally been a great way for cities to export tax burdens to tourists and other non-residents. Relying on these revenues is not possible now. In fact, hotel tax revenue fell 80 percent in New York City and by similar magnitudes in San Francisco and Los Angeles."
Comparing the Economic Recovery: The Washington Post has a series of charts showing some of the unevenness of the recovery, including the challenges working mothers of school age children face.
RESOURCES
VC investments:
Lego, Sesame Workshop, Trustbridge Partners and Interlock Partners invested $50 million in BEGiN, a start-up building reading apps and a full-time early learning program.
Online course platform Thinkific raises $22 million.
Skipping Digital Class: Students finding ways to use technology to skip distance learning.
7 Former FDA Commissioners: "The Trump administration is undermining the credibility of the FDA." OpEd from Robert Califf, Scott Gottlieb, Margaret Hamburg, Jane Henney, David Kessler, Mark McClellan and Andy von Eschenbach.
Tutoring: New research shows that even lightly trained volunteers can drive academic gains.
Accountability: Larry Berger and Bush Institute on assessment and accountability during COVID.
Reaction to the Debate Last Night: Here.
Something Happier: A baby panda at the National Zoo. Livestream video.