The Rundown: Louisiana's stay-at-home order extended, PPP gets more funding and more news
Welcome back to The Rundown after a brief break…
Today in The Rundown: Gov. John Bel Edwards extends Louisiana’s stay-at-home order for two more weeks; Paycheck Protection Program resumes after temporary halt; Louisiana Legislature sets a return date; and more news.
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The Countdown…
Days until Louisiana Legislature is scheduled to return to session: TBD
Days until the Governor’s stay-at-home order is lifted: 17 (NEW!)
Days until the Louisiana legislative session must end: 34
Days until the newly-scheduled Louisiana presidential primary: 75
Days until the presidential/senatorial/congressional election: 189
Days until the Louisiana runoff election (as needed): 221
Coronavirus in Louisiana
The Numbers…
Cases: 27,0682
In Hospitals: 1,683 (On ventilation: 262)
Deaths: 1,697
Tests administered (state and privately reported): 146,989
**Numbers reported as of noon April 27. For updated numbers see: The Louisiana Department of Health.
The News…
Stay-at-home: Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards announced this week that he’s extending his stay-at-home executive order, which places social distancing-driven restrictions on businesses and activities, through May 15 instead of letting it expire this week.
“The state doesn’t meet the criteria for moving to phase one under the (federal) guidelines,” Edwards said in making his announcement after a weekend of studying the latest state trends in confirmed cases, deaths, hospitalizations and testing rates. “We have to be smart in reopening our economy.”
Edwards’ announcement followed a weekly meeting between governors and the White House. Edwards said Vice President Mike Pence was supportive of the state’s decision not to open, even while other states are moving in that direction, including neighboring Texas and Mississippi (Arkansas never implemented a state-wide stay-at-home order).
Pence filmed an interview with WWL-TV on Monday to publicly voice his support for Edwards’ decision.
“In discussions with your governor, we'll continue not only to offer our best counsel, but we'll continue to offer medical support, medical equipment, that personal protective equipment and we'll continue to offer support as Louisiana continues to try to increase testing across your state,” Pence said. “Although, I will tell you that Louisiana can be proud to have one of the highest per-capita numbers of testing of any state in the country.”
But Edwards’ decision to extend his executive order drew pushback from some residents and members of the business community.
Louisiana Association of Business President Stephen Waguespak expressed his "disappointment" in Edwards' decision to continue his order after its announcement. "We hope state officials use this additional time to develop a robust and targeted plan that gives clear safety guidance going forward and takes bold actions to jumpstart our badly-damaged economy," he said in a statement.
The Pelican Institute has launched a petition for those who support a faster end to the governor’s coronavirus-related restrictions on business.
“Every day we delay reopening our state's economy means more bills stacking up for Louisiana families and more job creators shutting their doors forever,” the petition states.
Paycheck Protection Program: Monday marked the start of the latest phase of the small business loan program meant to keep companies afloat during the coronavirus and keep employees working.
The Small Business Administration distributed $349 billion in less than two weeks during the first round, before Congress agreed to put $310 billion more into the fund, which converts to grants if businesses keep workers on their payroll.
Louisiana small businesses received more than $5.1 billion over more than 26,000 loans during the first PPP round.
“The PPP has supported more than 1.66 million small businesses and protected over 30 million jobs for hardworking Americans,” Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and SBA administrator Jovita Carranza said in a joint statement. “With the additional funds appropriated by Congress, tens of millions of additional workers will benefit from this critical relief.”
After a rocky start in the initial phase, banks and other financial institutions that handle the enrollment for the program were thought to be better prepared this week to handle the latest wave of business owners seeking help. The SBA has also provided additional information online including this 12-page FAQ.
LaLege: Louisiana’s legislative leaders are planning to call lawmakers back to the State Capitol on May 4 to continue the session’s work they started before taking an indefinite hiatus for the coronavirus.
Since the last meetings of the House and Senate on March 31, one member has died and three others have had confirmed covid-19 diagnoses.
Gov. John Bel Edwards said he wouldn’t object to the Legislature returning before the new May 15 end to his stay-at-home order
"I happen to believe the Legislature is like essential infrastructure,” Edwards said during his Monday news conference.
The Legislative session is scheduled to end on June 1, and a state budget has to be in place by July 1 to keep government open in the coming fiscal year (though a last-ditch extension of existing funding could theoretically be hashed out until there’s more certainty).
But at least one state legislator has already expressed his disproval of restarting the session next week.
Baton Rouge Rep. Ted James says he won’t be among the members returning. James, an influential Democrat who recovered from coronavirus after several days in the hospital, even called the proposed return “irresponsible” and described the move as signaling a lack of compassion for Rep. Reggie Bagala, who died earlier this month after battling covid-19.
“There is no safe way to practice social distancing in a body of 104,” James tweeted. “I will neither put myself at risk nor would I have made the decision to put our staff, lobbyists and the public at risk.”
Governor’s schedule…
2:30 p.m.: Gov. John Bel Edwards holds his daily coronavirus briefing.
Tweet beat…
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