
Tax & Budgets
How Will the New Federal COVID-19 Relief Package Impact State and Local Governments?
February 17, 2021 | Neal Osten
States and localities are pursuing a variety of policies to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. Track all the policy activity here, including mask mandates, travel restrictions, reopening guidelines, impact on state legislative sessions, and more.
Last Updated March 5, 2021
To monitor the response of state and local governments to the coronavirus, we created a COVID-19 State and Local Policy Dashboard that provides a quick and easy reference to updates and information issued by state and key local agencies and policymakers (updated daily). Toggle between the tabs labeled "State" and "Local" in the top right-hand corner of the screen.
Click here to view the Dashboard.
This information will be updated daily by our policy team. You can access this new resource by clicking here.
MultiState is tracking each state's vaccination plan as it adapts to the evolving environment. MultiState's State COVID-19 Vaccine Dashboard is focused on who is currently eligible to receive a vaccine in each state as well as plans for future eligible populations. For example, below is a map breaking down which states have expanded eligibility for which age groups.
As states shift the focus of their COVID-19 response from managing the public health crisis to the economic recovery phase, states have started allowing certain businesses to open, and most have announced plans for a phased reopening of the economy. Since each state’s degree of “openness” is determined by many factors, and because each state handled pandemic response differently, MultiState has developed a COVID-19 State Reopening Guide to condense these factors into one easy-to-understand “openness score” that allows you to compare states to one another. States are evaluated based on eleven factors, and the data behind this guide is updated daily.
States realize that convincing more residents to wear masks is one way to help slow the spread of the COVID-19 without resorting to shuttering the economy. With that in mind, political leaders have made the tough decision to require residents to wear masks or facial coverings. These mandates typically fall within three categories: (1) broad mandates requiring residents to wear masks while outside their home (either outside or in a public building or business), (2) mandates only requiring mask wearing while inside a public building or business, or (3) requiring employees in certain customer-facing industries to wear masks while on the clock. The map below, updated daily, illustrates how states are currently mandating wearing masks.
Travel restrictions typically require anyone who enters into the state to self-quarantine for 14-days. Some are limited to those entering from certain locations, while others are more broad and require self-quarantine generally. The map below summarizes these restrictions and will be updated daily.
Our latest tool collects "stay-at-home" orders and definitions of "essential businesses" from states and large localities. This is "live" and will be updated as soon as new orders are issued and reviewed by the MultiState team. Click here to access this tool, or visit https://bit.ly/stay_home_orders.
State legislatures have also begun introducing and advancing legislation addressing the COVID-19 outbreak. In general, this legislation falls into the following categories:
In addition to the impact on schools, businesses, and daily life, the COVID-19 outbreak is also impacting the operation of state legislatures. Many state legislatures have either postponed activity or adjourned early, and those that have remained in session have restricted public access to capitol buildings and legislative office buildings.
Our State Legislative Sessions chart is being updated daily to include any changes to legislative schedules that result from the COVID-19 outbreak (click here to see the chart). We have also distilled these calendar updates into a map, shown below. Our Sessions chart and this map will also be updated daily.
To keep track of what state officials and agencies are saying about COVID-10 and to follow updates from their official accounts, we are creating Twitter Lists so that you can follow are the states in one place.
February 17, 2021 | Neal Osten
February 4, 2021 | Bill Kramer
January 14, 2021 | Morgan Scarboro