This week the Arizona Legislature
lurched back into action, coming together for the first time since March to
pass a slate of bills before calling it quits. Normally more action (and bills)
at the legislature means bad news for taxpayers, but this time there was a very
good reason to have lawmakers come back: Covid-19 liability.
After Governor Ducey correctly
decided to end the shutdown earlier this month, businesses have been eager to
reopen, yet are uneasy on how to do it right.
Businesses are very concerned that even with their best efforts to
implement policies and procedures that keep employees and customers safe from
Covid-19, they are vulnerable to sue-happy trial attorneys and opportunists
looking to make a buck on class action lawsuits.
If the state is to recover
economically as quickly as possible, the legislature must pass legislation that
limits the liability exposure for businesses.
Current tort law in Arizona entitles an injured party to damages if they
can find the other party was simply negligent in their duties by a preponderance
of the evidence, a fairly low evidentiary standard.
Proposed legislation currently
being crafted by Senator Eddie Farnsworth and Representative John Kavanagh
would likely raise this bar to require a business or non-profit was grossly
negligent by clear and convincing evidence.
This change would only be applied to suits directly related to the
Governor’s Executive Order addressing COVID-19.
Additionally, many Arizona businesses
took exception to Ducey’s forceful approach to enforcement, threatening fines
and revocation of licenses for violations of his Executive Orders. Any bill that moves forward should either
remove or significantly limit the draconian (and often unconstitutional) danger
of excessive fines or punishment.
Businesses will undoubtedly do
what they can to follow recommended safety guidelines for employees and
customers. But if they must contend with
the looming anxiety of being sued for a fortune without adequate protections
under the law or of having their right to operate their business legally at
all, our economy will suffer.
Starting and running a business
is inherently risky. Individuals stake
their livelihoods on a concept they hope and believe will be successful in the
open market. The risk and uncertainty
created around COVID-19 has the ability to cripple our job creators. After the forced closures of thousands of
businesses in Arizona, many of them will not reopen. For the ones that do step into this brave new
world, they must have assurances that a slew of lawsuits or a government
crack-down won’t force them to close their doors again, this time for
good.
Today
the Arizona Free Enterprise Club announced its first slate of candidate endorsements
for the 2020 election cycle.
The endorsed candidates represent individuals who align with
the organization’s principles and key policy goals. Club President Scot Mussi stated, “It is critical Arizona has leaders and
policy makers who are able to articulate and stand up for free market
principles and pro-growth policies. This
slate of candidates has proven they can and will.”
It is difficult amid the chaos
and unpredictability surrounding our Country’s new COVID-19 reality to think
about what life will look like when this crisis subsides. Yet it is during the most difficult of challenges
when nations decide if they will surrender their fundamental
values in exchange for the promise of security.
Whether our leaders argue that
drastic times call for drastic measures, the ends justify the means, or promise
that everything will go back to normal after the crisis abates – it is
imperative that there are voices questioning, “what will our Republic look like
after the storm passes?”
Afterall, as reasonable or
necessary as some measures appear to a fearful populace, many in our ruling
class want to make sure to not let a good crisis go to waste.
The New York
Times recently highlighted several
chilling examples of major constitutional and human rights violations being
adopted in democratic nations with lightning speed and little resistance:
Right to Privacy – Infringement Through
Draconian Surveillance: In Israel the Prime Minister has authorized
tracking citizens through cellphone data they developed for counterterrorism
efforts. They are tracing citizens’ every movements and can even throw people
in prison for up to six months for defying isolation orders.
Right to Access the Ballot Box: Fair and
free elections are a cornerstone of any democratic republic. The “interim President” of Bolivia has
suspended their presidential election, unilaterally seizing a longer term and
denying citizens a basic right to choose their leader. Hungary’s Prime Minister has legislation
drafted that is likely to be passed which among many infringements also
includes the ability for him to suspend all elections and referendums. How his government ever peacefully wrest this
power away from him again is left unanswered in the legislative package.
Freedom of the Press and Speech: Several countries are violating
basic free speech rights and persecuting journalists that publish “dissenting”
or “false” information contrary to the government. Hungary again is an offender, allowing the
public prosecutor to imprison people for up to five years for disseminating
what they consider false information.
Right to Assembly: Our
friends overseas in Great Britain sprinted out legislation that allows their
ministries to ban pubic gatherings with little oversight as well as potentially
detain and isolate people indefinitely. In
the United States, democrats pushed hard to include language in the
COVID-19 relief package that would force non-profits and charitable
organizations to disclose
their donors, a practice that has been ruled unconstitutional
by the US Supreme court in NAACP VS
Alabama.
Right to a Speedy Trial and Habeas Corpus: Israel
Prime Minister Netanyahu has shut down
courts supposedly in the name of public health. It also conveniently serves his own interests
as he was scheduled to stand trial for corruption charges. The United
States’ Department of Justice has tried similarly dangerous
tactics, requesting Congress give them the authority to indefinitely detain
someone during an emergency as well as suspend court proceedings pre and post
arrest and trial.
These infringements are hitting
close to home in Arizona. Shortly after
the crisis began, several mayors unilaterally declared a state of emergency
without notifying Governor Ducey or their fellow council members. Some used
these powers to close businesses and limit hours, often with no consideration
with how disruptive it would be for employers to comply with a patchwork of
restrictions varying city to city.
Even after Governor Ducey wisely
stepped in and established a uniform policy for the entire state, Coral Evans
of Flagstaff has willfully and publicly defied
state law. She has unilaterally
closed city salons and similar services in obvious defiance of the Governor’s
Executive Order which preempts cities from employing more restrictive orders
than outlined by his administration.
The bottom line is that citizens need
to keep a close eye on the trade-offs government officials will be asking us to
make. The fearmongering being stoked by
some politicians should be looked upon with suspicion, especially when their
solutions involve long term power grabs, endless bailouts or indefinite
shutdown orders. As scary as Coronavirus may be, ceding our rights and freedoms
to a permanent police state is a much bigger threat.
Entering the second week of forced closures and social distancing to mitigate the spread of Coronavirus, Arizona small business owners and employers are doing their best to cope with the economic shutdown. It appears most in Arizona are following the restrictions enacted by State and local government and, in some cases, sacrificing their lively hoods in the hopes that this will stop the spread and save lives.
Unfortunately, many employers and employees will not survive much longer under the current shutdown. Over 3.3 Million people have already filed for unemployment, a catastrophic figure that will continue to rise over the next couple of weeks. We are reaching the point that a serious discussion needs to occur on how and when we reopen our economy in a safe and practical way.
Despite what some have suggested, having a discussion on the dangers of a long-term economic shutdown is not immoral or some ploy by selfish corporations or the rich wanting people to die in the pursuit of money. The truth needs to be said: if a shutdown continues much longer the US economy will descend into a depression that will threaten every facet of our lives and bring immeasurable pain, suffering and death to countless Americans.
The damage will be permanent and
it will affect everyone. Thousands of businesses will be gone. Tens of Millions
unemployed, many of which that were living paycheck to paycheck. Life savings
wiped out. Supply chain disruptions and
rationing of basic goods and essential services. Widespread hunger and
homelessness. Increases in suicide
and social disorder as local and state governments buckle from a collapsing tax
base.
And anyone that thinks that the Federal
government can step in and provide for the masses during a shutdown, think
again. For some perspective, Congress is close to
passing a $6 Trillion Dollar Coronavirus aid package, $4 Trillion
of which will be liquidity provided by the Federal Reserve. This is an obscene
amount of money, much larger than any spending bill passed in US history. Yet
that amount equals roughly
only 3 Months of US GDP. Suffice to say, if our economy remains in hibernation
for too long it will be the Federal Government in need of a bailout.
Some of our elected leaders appear to understand this, despite the insane pressure from various groups to ignore all economic consequences for their actions. Governor Ducey has taken reasonable steps to try to balance concerns between mitigating the epidemic and our economic survival. His executive order provided broad guidelines to allow some businesses to safely operate while working with Hospitals and medical professionals to ramp up for any potential outbreaks. His order also stopped local governments from setting up their own lockdown restrictions, a much needed intervention to prevent a patchwork of different social distancing standards throughout the state that would have been impossible for businesses to comply with.
Unfortunately, some politicians are
using the crisis to sow panic and fear throughout the state for political
purposes. The biggest offender is Senator Kyrsten Sinema. Earlier this week she
partnered with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi to block the Coronavirus relief
package in an attempt
to lard it up with unrelated liberal policies. Now there are
reports that she is holding
discussions with business leaders in the state and providing
them with apocalyptic scenarios about having to accept another great
depression.
Putting our country into a depression
is no way to handle any epidemic and will only make the situation worse. South
Korea has contained the outbreak and they did this without
any widespread lockdown. There is no reason that the US cannot do
the same.
President Trump is right. We need
to start
thinking about when we start working again. A goal of Easter may be
ambitious, but that should be a date political leaders in Arizona strive for to
start opening up our economy. Arizona will prevail in this fight, but only if
we ensure that we don’t destroy the economy in the process.
Amid the chaos of the Covid19
pandemic, Arizona lawmakers have proceeded with conducting the state’s
business. Monday March 23rd,
the legislature officially passed an
$11.8 Billion budget as well as a targeted Coronavirus relief
package. They then adjourned until April
13th or until the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House
call them back to reconvene.
The “skinny budget” that passed
was a simple baseline budget with a small amount of growth baked into the
formulas in order to keep agencies operational.
There were no ornaments on this Christmas tree.
In fact, though it seems like everyday
a new bit of disheartening news breaks, the state’s unusually trim budget is
definitely a silver lining. This is
likely the most conservative budget passed by the legislature in a decade. Considering all the big government bills, special
interest tax credit programs, and local pork
projects that were moving through the system and were likely to be
packed into the budget – passing a skinny budget was a win for taxpayers.
In addition to finalizing the
budget, lawmakers also passed two bills to address specific issues with the
Coronavirus – closure of schools and unemployment benefits. The bill related to public
school closures included provisions to not require schools to
make up for normally required days, extending state-wide assessment deadlines
and requiring districts to continue to pay their employees through the crisis. The bill for unemployment
benefits was an emergency measure that allowed the state to establish
alternative unemployment insurance benefits for people specifically impacted by
COVID19.
The budget and these bills now
sit on the Governor’s desk and await his signature.
Meanwhile, the executive branch
has been coordinating with the Department of Health on policies to curb the
impacts of COVID-19. Here are some of the steps their
administration has taken sequentially:
March 11th
– Governor issued Executive order
declaring a State of Emergency. The order
allowed ADHS to waive licensing requirements for healthcare officials, allowed
the state to access emergency funds and gave the state emergency procurement
authority. It also required insurance
providers to cover out of network providers for tests and treatment of
COVID-19.
March 15th
–
In conjunction with Kathy Hoffman the Superintendent of Public Instruction,
ordered the closure of all schools.
March 17th
–
Issued new guidelines for restaurants, child care providers and nursing homes
for social distancing and recommended gatherings of more than 10 people be
cancelled or delayed.
March 19th
–
Activated the National Guard to assist grocery stores and food banks.
March 19th
–
Issued three Executive Orders: 1. Delaying
requirements to renew drivers licenses and permits by 6 months
(September 1, 2020); 2. Required the closure of bars, movie theaters and
gyms. The Order limited
the operations of restaurants as well as gave them the ability to deliver
alcohol off premises; 3. Required
the delay of elective surgeries to conserve personal protective
medical equipment.
March 20th
–Executive
Order expanding access to unemployment benefits to individuals
impacted by COVID-19. The Governor’s
office also extended the filing deadline for state income taxes to July 15th,
mirroring the extension at the federal level.
March 20th
–
Extended the closure of all schools by another 2 weeks; through April 10th.
March 23rd
–Executive
Order issued to preempt cities and towns ability to supersede the
Governor’s emergency protocols including closures of businesses. He also defined which entities and businesses
and government services would be considered “essential.”
March 24th
– Executive Order
delaying evictions for renters specifically impacted by COVID-19.
March 25th
– Expanded
telemedicine services and prohibited regulatory boards from
requiring in-person examinations prior to the issuance of prescriptions.
Many of the executive orders
issued represent vast deregulatory strides.
Issues that have been highly contested for years such as expansion of
telemedicine, allowing prescriptions to be issued without an in-person
examination, and the waiving of licensure for medical professionals outside of
the state are being swiftly implemented out of necessity. Despite the unfortunate circumstances that
have precipitated these changes, they are a benefit to the state and to
Arizonans. These regulatory roll backs
and a lean state budget are a few silver linings for which we can all be
grateful.
Over the weekend Republicans and
Democrats in Washington were working toward an agreement on a Coronavirus
relief package to assist businesses and employees being hammered by the
economic shutdown. A bipartisan deal was close until at the last second Democrats
moved
to block the legislation, followed by an announcement by House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi that she would be drafting her own package.
The reason for the opposition?
Democrats are trying to use the bill to pass their wish
list of radical reforms! Some of the demands from democrats include:
Mandated Climate Change Studies
Increased fuel emission standards for airlines
Diversity reporting for corporate boards
Expanded collective bargaining power for unions
Same day voter registration
All mail-in elections
Elimination of all debt at the post office
Retirement plans for community newspaper employees
Study on all climate change mitigation efforts by all businesses benefiting from the legislation
Looking at this absurd list of
demands from Pelosi and Schumer brings clarity to what House Majority Whip Rep.
James Clybern meant when
he said that the Coronavirus crisis, “is a tremendous opportunity to
restructure things to fit our vision.”
They don’t care that none of
these items help patients, hospitals or the regular person currently sitting at
home waiting for this to end. They see an opportunity to exploit the process
and will try to bully Trump and Republicans into accepting their demands.
Make no mistake, every democrat sees this as a political opportunity to implement the Bernie Sanders plan, including Senator Kyrsten Sinema. Earlier this week she joined the democrats in blocking the Coronavirus relief package and then tried to spin it to be about providing enough help to small business and the health care community. How exactly does eliminating the debt at the Post Office and mandated diversity on corporate boards keep small businesses open? How does implementing the Green New Deal help hospitals fight Coronavirus?
It was a shameful display and
exposed every Democrat in Washington. They may talk about the need to fight the
current crisis, but when it came time to act it turns out that expanding
union power clout is more important to them. Even Sen. Sinema was seduced
by this power grab and went along.
Republicans have rightfully excoriated
Democrats over their antics, and so far have not given in to their demands.
They must hold firm—the public will understand why they are rejecting the
liberal wish list and will hold them accountable. Not even the compliant media
will be able to save them—although they will
try.
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