1. Coronavirus update: Read excerpts from our new newsletter chronicling America’s recovery
2. Arkansas group files lawsuit seeking relief from petition signature requirements due to coronavirus outbreak
3. HHS will not penalize telehealth providers for HIPAA violations during coronavirus emergency 

Coronavirus update: Read excerpts from our new newsletter chronicling America’s recovery

On Monday we launched a new daily newsletter—Documenting America's Path to Recovery—to explore state and local government proposals for lifting coronavirus-related restrictions on individuals and businesses. Subscribers got the first edition Monday afternoon. It’s free, and it will be published every weekday.

In case you missed it, Monday's issue divided the states into five categories of reopenings, as follows:

• Reopenings in progress: the state has already lifted restrictions on some industries put in place because of the pandemic.

• Announced reopenings, effective date: the state will reopen or partially reopen three or more industries on a set date. 

• Announced reopenings, contingent date: the state will reopen or partially reopen three or more industries on a targeted date, dependent on other conditions.

• Announced reopenings, no date: the state has a plan to reopen three or more industries entirely dependent on conditions.

• Limited or no announced reopening plan: the state has not yet put forth a plan to reopen there or more industries.

The newsletter also highlights recent developments in 15 states and examines Maryland's three-phase reopening plan in more detail. You can read Monday’s edition by clicking here. You can learn more about the goals and editorial approach of our new newsletter here.

Click here to subscribe.

Here are some other notable coronavirus-related updates since Monday's Brew:

• Hawaii Gov. David Ige (D) extended the statewide stay-at-home order from April 30 to May 31. The order also extends the state’s eviction moratorium and travel restriction. The travel restriction requires visitors and residents who enter the state to self-quarantine for 14 days. As of Monday afternoon, the breakdown of stay at home orders is as follows: 

  • 15 states have stay-at-home orders expiring on or before May 3, 

  • 7 states’ orders expire between May 4 and May 10, 

  • 10 expire from May 11 to June 10,

  • 7 states’ orders have no expiration date,

  • 4 states’ stay-at-home orders have expired, and

  • 7 states did not issue a statewide stay-at-home order.

• Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) extended his “safer-at home” order through May 11. This order also directed state, county, and local law enforcement to stop eviction proceedings on residential property. 

• Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) issued an executive order directing "all Kentuckians [to] utilize absentee voting by mail for the June 23, 2020, primary election if they are able to do so."

• The New York State Board of Elections canceled its June 23 Democratic presidential preference primary. The statewide primary election is scheduled to proceed as planned on that date.

• Utah Gov. Gary Herbert (R) signed legislation canceling in-person Election Day voting, in-person early voting, and in-person voter registration in the upcoming election. The legislation also extended the postmark deadline for mail-in ballots to June 30.

Learn more

       

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Arkansas group files lawsuit seeking relief from petition signature requirements due to coronavirus outbreak

The group sponsoring an Arkansas initiative to create an independent redistricting commission filed a lawsuit seeking relief from certain signature petition requirements due to social distancing restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Arkansas Voters First filed suit against Secretary of State John Thurston (R) April 22 asking that they be allowed to gather electronic signatures and for the signature deadline to be extended from July 3 to August 3. Thurston said he does not have the power to suspend the signature requirements. 

The lawsuit says, "Close, in-person interactions are necessary to any effort to gather wet signatures for an amendment to be placed on the ballot. However, given the severe restrictions on the ability to physically interact with others, Plaintiffs cannot comply with Arkansas’s formal constitutional and statutory signature requirements. Given the current circumstances, Arkansas’s requirements unduly burden Plaintiffs’ fundamental First and Fourteenth Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution."

Under Arkansas’ law, sponsors must submit 89,151 valid signatures by July 3 to qualify a measure for the November ballot. Signatures for Arkansas initiatives must be collected in person. Currently, none of the 26 states with a process for citizen initiatives allow electronic signature gathering. Arkansas Voters First suspended signature-gathering efforts due to the coronavirus pandemic March 19. 

Sponsors of 10 other ballot measure campaigns in five states have filed lawsuits or petitions in courts requesting relief from petition signature requirements. Judge Dominic Lanza of the U.S. District Court of Arizona rejected a complaint from two citizen-initiated ballot measure campaigns that requested use of the state’s online signature collection platform. Judge Lanza said the Arizona Constitution required signatures to be collected in-person. Lanza was appointed to the court in 2018 by President Donald Trump (R). 

The initiative would create a Citizens' Redistricting Commission for state legislative and congressional redistricting that would replace the Board of Apportionment that is currently responsible for state legislative redistricting in Arkansas. The state legislature is currently responsible for congressional redistricting. The measure would establish criteria for drawing district maps and establish qualifying criteria for members of the redistricting commission.  

Voters in five states—Ohio, Colorado, Michigan, Missouri, and Utah—approved changes to their redistricting processes for state legislative districts, congressional districts, or both in 2018. The measures in Michigan, Missouri, and Utah were put on the ballot as citizen initiatives. Ohio’s and Colorado’s measures were referred to the ballot by their respective state legislatures.

HHS will not penalize telehealth providers for HIPAA violations during coronavirus emergency

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a final rule April 21 stating it would not penalize health care providers who use telehealth services in good faith during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), some telehealth technologies might violate certain privacy rules. The HHS ruling serves as an announcement that the agency is using its enforcement discretion not to penalize providers for violations during the coronavirus crisis.

The rule states that healthcare providers may use “applications that allow for video chats” to provide telehealth without risk that OCR (Office of Civil Rights) might seek to impose a penalty for noncompliance with the HIPAA Rules." It also encourages health care providers to inform patients that third-party applications might pose privacy risks. The rule also instructs providers to use privacy modes when using services that represent that they provide HIPAA-compliant products and services. HHS advised healthcare providers not to use platforms such as Facebook Live, Twitch, and TikTok. 

The final rule will remain in effect until the HHS Secretary either declares the public health emergency no longer exists, or until the declared public health emergency expires.

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