May Revise Budget: Governor Newsom released the May Revision to the 2020-21 state budget, which presents an expenditure plan of $202.2 billion with $133.9 in General Fund expenditures. For comparison, this represents a 5.47% decrease from 2019-20 budget expenditures.
Addressing Liquidity in the Financial Markets: The federal bank regulatory agencies announced temporary changes to their supplementary leverage ratio rule. The temporary modifications will provide flexibility to certain depository institutions to expand their balance sheets in order to provide credit to households and businesses in light of the challenges arising from the coronavirus response.
Financial Stability Report: The Federal Reserve issued its Financial Stability Report, which reviews the effect of the economic and market shocks associated with COVID-19 on US financial stability and discusses the Federal Reserve’s response. According to the report, “ While the financial regulatory reforms adopted since 2008 have substantially increased the resilience of the financial sector, the financial system nonetheless amplified the shock, and financial sector vulnerabilities are likely to be significant in the near term . The strains on household and business balance sheets from the economic and financial shocks since March will likely create fragilities that last for some time . Financial institutions—including the banking sector, which had large capital and liquidity buffers before the shock—may experience strains as a result.” file:///S:/ajed/2020%20-%20COVID-19%20Respoonse/06%20-%20Recovery%20Strategy/financial-stability-report-20200515.pdf
Help for Small Business Re-Openings: The County of San Bernardino established a COVID-Compliant Business Partnership Program and committed $30 million to assisting small businesses with some of the costs associated with reopening. Online applications are now being accepted for qualified small businesses in San Bernardino County. Businesses need to have under 100 employees and meet other criteria to be eligible. http://sbcovid19.com/covid-compliant-business-partnership-program/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
DATA, EVALUATIONS, AND ANALYSES
Economic Well-Being of Households: The Federal Reserve issued a report on the Economic Well-Being of US Households, featuring supplemental data from April 2020. Not surprisingly, the report found that financial conditions have changed dramatically since the release of the 2019 report based on a survey of over 12,000 adults conducted in October 2019. This report includes the results of a smaller supplemental survey of just over 1,000 adults conducted from April 3 to April 6 of this year.
Global Impact of the Pandemic: The International Labor Organization, an agency of the United Nations, reported that global working hours in the second quarter of the year are expected to be 10.5% lower than the final quarter of 2019. 1.25 billion workers, nearly two-fifths of the 3.3 billion people that comprise the global workforce, are employed in sectors experiencing significant reductions in output, from retail and real estate to manufacturing, accommodation and food services. More than four-fifths of the global workforce live in countries where full or partial lockdown measures are in place. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@dgreports/@dcomm/documents/briefingnote/wcms_743146.pdf
COVID-19 PROGRAM UPDATES
Spanish Language Webinars: The California Entrepreneurship Task Force, with the support of the Office of the Small Business Advocate, hosted another in a series of Spanish-speaking rapid response sessions entitled, “Preparando la Reapertura: Herramientas y Estrategias Digitales.” The discussion featured Latinx and Spanish-speaking leaders in the digital space sharing how small businesses can adapt to an online marketplace during COVID-19.
Employer Training Dollars: The Employment Training Panel approved the expansion of their COVID-19 Response Plan to include a new COVID Rapid Reemployment and Retraining Pilot (COVID-19 Pilot). The purpose of the COVID-19 Pilot is to rapidly support employers and workers in the healthcare and food supply chain. The pilot will support new hire training, including protective equipment for workers. Eligible employers are within the following NASIC Codes: 62-Healthcare; 44611-Pharmacies; 3254-Medical and Pharmaceutical manufacturing; 3345-Measuring Device manufacturing; 3391-Medical Equipment manufacturing; 541380-Testing Laboratories; 11-Agriculture; 311-Food Manufacturing; 3121-Beverage Manufacturing; 3256-Soap & Toilet Paper Manufacturing; and 445-Food & Beverage (i.e. Grocery) Stores. Guidelines begin on page 79 of the Panel Packet for May 15, 2020, Agenda. https://etp.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2020/05/May-2020-Full-Panel-Packet-Web.pdf
