| Governor Lamont signs 89th executive order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19
Governor Lamont Yesterday signed another executive order – the 89th since he enacted the emergency declarations – that builds upon his efforts to encourage mitigation strategies that slow down transmission of the virus.
All of the provisions in this order either relax a restriction, extend a relief measure, or expand some existing form of relief to help businesses, residents, and institutions better respond to the challenges posed by the pandemic.
Executive Order No. 10 enacts the following provisions:
- Exclusion of individual stimulus payments from benefit eligibility calculations: Repeats and expands the provisions of Executive Order No. 7CC, which exempted any CARES Act stimulus payments from eligibility calculations for state-provided benefits. This expands the exemption to all federal COVID-related stimulus to capture CARES Act II stimulus.
- Suspension of reapplication filing requirement for the additional veterans tax relief program: Suspends the biennial filing requirements required under state law for veterans who were granted tax relief benefits for the Grand List year 2018 and who are required to recertify for the Grand List year 2020, and allows such taxpayers to automatically maintain their benefits for the next biennial cycle ending in Grand List year 2022.
- Suspension of reapplication filing requirement for the Homeowners’ – Elderly/Disabled Circuit Breaker and Freeze Tax Relief Programs: Allows people who already qualify for these municipal tax relief programs to remain eligible without submitting the documentation that is normally required every two years.
- Use of commuter parking facilities as needed for COVID-19 testing and vaccination: Suspends the state statute that required Department of Transportation commuter lots to be used only for commuter parking for carpools, vanpools, and mass transportation, and permits at these facilities the establishment and operation of COVID-19 testing and vaccination sites.
- Renewals of liquor permits extended: Extends the postponement of the new permitting fee structure imposed by a state law passed in 2019 and was scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2020.
- Paid leave requirements for staff of local and regional boards of education: Requested by teachers and vetted by superintendents, this order requires local and regional boards of education to continue to provide two weeks of paid leave (or equivalent for part-time staffers) for school district employees who have to miss work because they were required to self-quarantine due to COVID-19, the school closed because someone at the school was exposed, they need to care for someone subject to quarantine, they were diagnosed with COVID-19, they are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and seeking medical attention, or they were required to care for a child whose school or place of care was closed or unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19. Federal legislation mandating this expired on December 31, 2020.
- Relaxation of limits on religious gatherings: Eliminates the numerical cap on size of religious gatherings and maintains the capacity limit for these gatherings at 50 percent, effective immediately. All other health and safety measures, such as social distancing and face coverings, are still required.
- Absentee voting eligibility during COVID-19 pandemic: Permits all voters in any special election or municipal primary held prior to April 20, 2021 to vote using an absentee ballot, citing the COVID-19 pandemic as the reason. This is similar to the order the permitted voters to use absentee ballots during elections held in 2020.
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