Josh Elliott

Governor Lamont signed 21^st executive order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19

Governor Lamont yesterday signed another executive order – the 21^st since he enacted the emergency declarations – that builds upon his efforts to encourage mitigation strategies that slow down transmission of the virus.

Governor Lamont’s Executive Order No. 7T enacts the following provisions:

• Prohibition on non-essential lodging: Prohibits all hotels, motels, inns, bed and breakfasts, and short-term residential rentals (including those arrange through online hosting platforms such as Airbnb and Vrbo) from renting to customers for leisure or vacation purposes. Instead, lodging at these facilities must be limited to:
  • Health care workers, first responders, and other essential workers;
  • Workers engaged in transporting critical materials to hospitals;
  • Vulnerable populations, including those who are homeless;
  • Connecticut residents who need a place to self-quarantine away from family or roommates;
  • Those receiving long-term care or specialized medical treatment;
  • Connecticut residents in need of housing as a result of property damage, such as a fire;
  • Persons unable to return home because of constraints on travel; and
  • Persons engaged in providing or servicing lodging.
• Further clarification of limits on restaurants, bars, and private clubs: Permits, under certain conditions, food establishments and liquor manufacturers to deliver alcoholic liquor and allows additional manufacturers to sell alcoholic liquor for pick-up and delivery. This will provide additional opportunities for these businesses to safely deliver their products directly to customers and reduce travel outside the home.
• Suspension of notarization requirement related to Connecticut Recovery Bridge Loan Program: Suspends the notarization requirement for certifying compliance with nondiscrimination laws for applicants seeking assistance through the recently created Connecticut Recovery Bridge Loan Program for small businesses in order to ensure that applications can be completed and processed in an efficient manner.
• Flexibility to maintain adequate child care infrastructure: Provides the commissioner of Early Childhood with the authority to implement a financial package to compensate emergency child care and stabilize the child care field to support providers through the emergency response.
• Suspension of rehearing rights for temporary rate increases for certain health care providers: Enables the Department of Social Services to provide relief to various providers, including nursing facilities, intermediate care facilities for the intellectually disabled, and residential care homes, by way of a temporary rate increase to address the COVID-19 public health emergency without being subject to rehearings challenging the overall magnitude and methodology of the rate increases that can, in some case, take years to come to a conclusion and expose the state to increased costs beyond those necessary to pay the temporary rate increases.
• Alternative to affidavits in relation to orders of protection and relief: Suspends the requirement that victims of domestic abuse sign an application for an order of protection under oath before a notary or attorney. Instead, the order enables them to sign an application outside the presence of a third party under the penalty of false statement. Governor Lamont thanks the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Judicial Branch for their input and coordination on this important matter. This order, along with additional changes the Judicial Branch intends to make to its Rules of Civil Procedure, will ensure victims of domestic abuse continue to have access to our courts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

**Download: Governor Lamont’s Executive Order No. 7T