The Coronavirus Weekly Update summarizes major changes due to the coronavirus pandemic in politics, government, and elections. Today, you will find updates on the following topics, with comparisons to our previous edition released on Aug. 20:
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Election changes
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School closures and reopenings
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Lawsuits about state actions and policies
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Travel restrictions
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Ballot measure changes
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1918 story
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Federal responses
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Stay-at-home orders
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Eviction and foreclosure policies
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Diagnosed or quarantined public officials
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State legislation
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State legislative sessions
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State courts
For daily news on state reopening plans and which industries and activities are permitted across the country, subscribe to Documenting America's Path to Recovery.
Election changes
Read more: Changes to election dates, procedures, and administration in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020
Overview:
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Twenty states have postponed state-level primary or special elections.
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Nineteen states have modified their candidate filing requirements.
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Forty states have modified their voting procedures.
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Political parties in 19 states have modified party events on a statewide basis.
Details:
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New York: On Aug. 20, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signed into law legislation extending absentee voting eligibility in the general election to any voter who is "unable to appear personally at the polling place of the election district in which they are a qualified voter because there is a risk of contracting or spreading a disease causing illness to the voter or to other members of the public."
School closures and reopenings
Read more: School responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic during the 2020-2021 academic year
Overview:
In March and April, 48 states closed schools to in-person instruction for the remainder of the 2019-2020 academic year. Those states accounted for 99.4% of the nation's 50.6 million public school students. Montana and Wyoming did not require in-person instruction for the year. Montana schools were allowed to reopen on May 7 and Wyoming schools were allowed to reopen on May 15.
The current status of school reopenings is as follows:
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Four states (N.M., R.I., Vt., W.V.) have a state-ordered school closure.
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Two states (Calif., Hawaii) have a state-ordered regional school closure.
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Three states (Del., N.C., Va.) are open for hybrid or remote instruction only.
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Four states (Ark., Iowa, Mo., Texas) have state-ordered in-person instruction.
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Thirty-seven states have reopenings that vary by school or district.
Details:
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Arkansas - On Aug. 24, schools in Arkansas reopened to in-person instruction. The Arkansas Center for Health Improvement announced that district-level data on testing rates and active coronavirus cases would be made available online.
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Delaware - On Aug. 26, Gov. John Carney (D) signed the 25th modification to his emergency declaration, requiring students in kindergarten and above to wear face coverings inside schools at all times. The order also requires school districts and charters to notify parents when a positive coronavirus case is identified in their child’s building.
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Florida - On Aug. 24, Florida Second Circuit Court Judge Charles Dodson issued a temporary injunction against Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran’s order requiring schools to open for in-person instruction by the end of August. Dodson said Corcoran's order is “unconstitutional to the extent that it arbitrarily disregards safety, denies local school boards' decision making with respect to reopening brick and mortar schools, and conditions funding on an approved reopening plan with a start date in August.”
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Iowa - On Aug. 20, Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) announced that schools suffering storm damage from the Aug. 11 derecho will be allowed to use primarily remote learning to begin the 2020-2021 school year. Previously, only schools with a 15% coronavirus positivity rate or 10% absenteeism were allowed to primarily use remote learning.
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Massachusetts - On Aug. 21, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education issued guidance instructing teachers and support staff in districts starting the school year with remote learning to teach and work from school buildings.
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Michigan - On Aug. 20, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) signed an education package consisting of three bills that guide how school districts can reopen for the school year. The bills stipulate that although school districts aren’t required to offer in-person education, school boards must review their district’s instructional plans each month. Schools that do reopen to in-person instruction must prioritize that option for K-12 students. The legislation also weights per-pupil funding based on 75% of last year’s enrollment and 25% of the current enrollment.
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Texas - On Aug. 20, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath said the Texas Education Agency and the Department of State Health will soon begin to publish COVID-19 case numbers at schools. School districts will be required to report confirmed cases to the state within a day.
Lawsuits about state actions and policies
Read more: Lawsuits about state actions and policies in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020-2021
Overview:
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To date, Ballotpedia has tracked 819 lawsuits, across all 50 states, dealing in some way with the COVID-19 outbreak. Court orders have been issued, or settlements have been reached, in 309 of those lawsuits.
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Ballotpedia has separately followed another 220 lawsuits, across 46 states, dealing with election issues during the COVID-19 outbreak. Court orders have been issued, or settlements have been reached, in 135 of those lawsuits.
Here are three lawsuits that have either garnered significant national media attention or involve major advocacy groups.
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County of Los Angeles v. Grace Community Church of the Valley: On Aug. 15, a three-judge panel of the California Second District Court of Appeal halted a lower court order, which would have allowed a Los Angeles County church to hold indoor services, despite state and county COVID-19 restrictions. The appellate court stayed Judge James Chalfant’s temporary restraining order, which would have permitted the church to offer indoor services coupled with social distancing and face coverings. The appellate court found that the balance "between the harm that flows from the heightened risk of transmitting COVID-19 ... and the harm that flows from having to conduct religious services outdoors instead of indoors" favored the issuance of a stay. The church pastor, John MacArthur, conducted indoor services the day after the appellate court issued the stay. Los Angeles County filed a motion asking the court to hold the church, parishioners who attended indoor services, and MacArthur in contempt of court and fined a total of $20,000. At an Aug. 20 hearing, Superior Court Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff declined to issue a final written decision on the sanctions, with the two parties disagreeing on his oral findings. Attorneys for the church said Beckloff had ruled in the church’s favor: "There is no court order prohibiting Pastor John MacArthur and Grace Community Church from holding indoor worship services." Meanwhile, county officials said they were "grateful that the court recognized the vital importance of our health officer orders in protecting the public health and continue to seek an opportunity to work with Grace Community Church to bring its services into compliance."
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Florida Education Association v. DeSantis: On Aug. 24, Judge Charles W. Dodson, of Florida’s Second Circuit Court for Leon County, blocked an emergency order requiring that school districts physically open their schools or risk state funding. Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran issued the emergency order. The court combined two lawsuits alleging the order violated the Florida Constitution. The plaintiffs, including the Florida Education Association (FEA), said the order pressured school districts to physically reopen schools, as only those schools with state-approved reopening plans would be granted flexibility on student enrollment reporting. This policy effectively removed state funding for students who attend school online instead of on campus. Dodson found the order "unconstitutional to the extent it arbitrarily disregards safety, denies local school boards decision making with respect to reopening brick and mortar schools, and conditions funding on an approved reopening plan with a start date in August." Dodson said, "the day-to-day decision to open or close a school must always rest locally with the board or executive most closely associated with a school." The state appealed to Florida’s First District Court of Appeal, which automatically stayed Dodson’s order. The plaintiffs filed an emergency motion to dismiss that stay. FEA president Fedrick Ingram said, "Shame on a Commissioner of Education who would spend taxpayer dollars to try and reinvent some kind of privileged defense when you already have been proven that you are wrong." Corcoran said he was "100% confident we will win this lawsuit."
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Washington v. DeVos: On Aug. 21, Judge Barbara Rothstein of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington granted Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson's (D) request to block a U.S. Department of Education interim final rule regulating distribution of roughly $13.5 billion in Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) aid. In its complaint, the state argued U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos had violated "the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), separation of powers, and the Spending Clause in the United States Constitution," when she issued a rule "contrary to the clear, express statutory language of the CARES Act." The state said the rule would prevent Washington’s public elementary and secondary schools from receiving emergency relief funds, as it would "either limit which public schools can use the funds, or reallocate significant funds to private schools regardless of student need." Rothstein ruled for the state, finding that "private schools [would] receive a larger share of CARES Act funding than they would under a straight-forward application" of the Act's poverty-based formula. Rothstein said the rule "was in excess of statutory authority and not in accordance with law." Neither party has publicly commented on the ruling. Rothstein was appointed to the bench by President Jimmy Carter (D).
Travel restrictions
Read more: Travel restrictions issued by states in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020-2021
Overview:
Details:
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Connecticut, New Jersey, New York - Govs. Ned Lamont (D-Conn.), Phil Murphy (D-N.J.), and Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) announced on Aug. 25 that Alaska, Arizona, Delaware, Maryland, and Montana had been removed from the joint travel advisory list. The territory of Guam was added to the list.
Ballot measure changes
Read more: Changes to ballot measure campaigns, procedures, and policies in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020-2022
Overview:
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At least 19 lawsuits were filed in 13 states seeking court orders suspending or changing signature requirements and deadlines.
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Rulings or settlements have been issued in 18 cases, with appeals and motions for stays pending in some.
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Ballotpedia has tracked 27 statewide initiative petition drives that suspended signature gathering.
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Seven states and D.C. changed ballot measure procedures through executive orders or legislative action.
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At least four initiative campaigns initially targeting 2020 reported they would shift their focus to 2022.
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